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Christine O’Donnell - Owner & Director of Beacon Gallery
A native of the Boston area, but a global citizen at heart, Christine opened Beacon Gallery in her hometown in 2017, fulfilling a lifelong dream to create a space where both emerging and established artists could be celebrated, and to launch a platform that makes art accessible to everyone and is rooted in community-driven principles.
After more than a decade spent living and working in Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore, she cultivated her passion for art and art history by experiencing the diverse cultural and creative depths around her and developed close connections with museums, galleries and local artists.
Given her background in education and the arts, Christine brings a unique style and approach towards the artists she features and shows she curates. Her commitment to social impact and equity underpins everything she does. Aside from being the primary curator for her own gallery, she also curates and juries shows independently among the wider art community. She also remains true to her roots in education by conducting workshops for artists and art enthusiasts through her gallery and Beacon Gallery Consulting, a registered 501(c)3 organization, SCORE and the New Art Center in Newton, MA.
Christine is a member of the Association of Women’s Art Dealers (AWAD), Boston Art Dealers Association (BADA), trained as an appraiser with the International Society of Appraisers, and is also a partner in Madrid's Very Private Gallery. She holds a Master's Degree in Art History through the UK's Open University, a MA in teaching from Tufts University, and a BA from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
Christine has been honored to be featured on the following podcasts:
Catherine Orer's The Artist Entrepreneur, September 21, 2022 Building Strong Relationships with Galleries
Fine Art Insights with Michael Rose, Sept 29, 2021 A conversation with Beacon Gallery owner Christine O’Donnell
Presley Ackeret (she/her) - Content Consultant
Presley is a “Jill of All Trades,” a passionate art professional, and manages a range of projects for Beacon Gallery in art, curation, writing, media, operations, and more. She also serves as Communications Coordinator of Harvard University's Department of Anthropology.
Originally from the Midwest, she relocated to Boston for school in 2014 and has considered Boston her home ever since. As she continues to develop her experience in the art world, Presley also dedicates her time to work in psychiatric counseling, urban agriculture, and continuing education. Having studied philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology, she is inspired to find ways to bridge the gap between our understanding of existential well-being and the need for art in our lives – bringing together local arts and culture with the surrounding Boston community.
She received a B.A. in Philosophy and B.S. in Neuroscience from Stonehill College. Presley has since continued her graduate education in Psychology at Harvard University, Art History at Berklee College, and a certificate through the Museum of Modern Art’s specialization program. Through the Summer 2022 session, Presley attended an artist residency program at The Bottega Projects in Montebuono, Italy. In September, she was selected to serve as judge of the 2022 Newton Art Association's Annual Awards Show.
Chenoa Baker (she/her) - Associate Curator
Chenoa Baker (she/her) is an empathetic curator, wordsmith, and descendant of self-emancipators. Equity and collectivism are the core tenants of her curatorial work; she has worked on Gio Swaby: Fresh Up at the Peabody Essex Museum; Simone Leigh at ICA/Boston and Simone Leigh: Sovereignty at the 59th La Biennale di Venezia; and Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas at MFA/Boston. Her autobiographical art criticism and ekphrastic meditations appear in Boston Art Review, Sixty Inches From Center, Helena Metaferia: Generations, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Burnaway, Art & Object, Black Art in America, and Sugarcane Magazine.