Board Members
Nancy Hamilton
Treasurer
Nancy is a jeweler, writer, YouTuber, and educator. She manages an educational, online, jewelry-based business. Nancy also has a YouTube channel. She also has a Jeweler’s Certificate from SRJC. She has also taught and taken classes at Santa Rosa High School, Mendocino Arts Center, New Approach for Jewelers School, and more.
Nancy teaches metalsmithing classes at Chimera Arts and at other locations.
Nancy is one of the original Chimera members and supporters and started Chimera’s Jewelry Studio. Amber Romero is the current director.
Nancy is also Chimera’s accountant.
Jim Wheaton
Secretary
Jim has worked in the computer software world his whole life. Mostly he concentrates on audio and music applications, having worked as a consultant for many companies and for Yamaha Music Technologies, Mixman Technologies, and most recently, Audible Magic Corp. His own company, Harmonic Systems, Inc. produces software products for fun and profit.
He has lived in Sebastopol for 17 years and is an active bass guitarist. He enjoys fixing old instruments and finding new homes for them, as well as inventing gizmos and gadgets. He very happy to have found a group of smart, creative, and friendly folks who call themselves Chimera.
Joe Szuecs
President
Joe started his career as an electrical engineer/software developer at Hewlett Packard. After a decade there, he went off on his own and developed a line of music education software followed by a few years of creating multimedia CD-ROM experiences for major publishers. That led to him being asked to become EVP of Technology for a dot com startup back when that was the thing to do. After a few years of that he relocated to bucolic Sonoma County and started exploring the world of hands-on making. This led to him creating the gallery/retail space Renga Arts that showcased products made from reclaimed and recycled materials. Along with that, he still managed to engage in software development projects as well as build cool things for the shop. During this time he became involved with the Maker Faire team and dove into the world of microcontrollers, CNC machines, and creative technologies. He has created numerous exhibits and installations for Maker Faire Bay Area and the World Maker Faire in NYC over the past decade.
Executive Team
Joe Szuecs
Volunteer Coordinator
Amber Romero
Jewelry Studio Director