Christine D'Arcy was named Executive Director of the Oregon Arts Commission in 1994. As Executive Director, she conceived of and initiated the Arts Commission’s nationally recognized Arts Build Communities program. From 1998 through 2001, she led a team of statewide cultural partners on the development of the Oregon Cultural Trust, managing the work of two Cultural Task Forces appointed by the Governor and legislative leadership. Since September 2003, she has served also as the Executive Director of the Oregon Cultural Trust whose operations merged with the Arts Commission.

Prior to her work in Oregon, D'Arcy was the Executive Director and Visual Arts Director of the Alaska State Council on the Arts where she worked from 1978 to 1992. A native New Yorker, she previously worked for the World Crafts Council, a UNESCO-affiliate, in its New York City headquarters, managing research and information services.

D’Arcy received a BA in Art History from Skidmore College and attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, specializing in historic preservation. D'Arcy serves on the board and executive committee of the Western States Arts Federation and is a past member of the board of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

Deb Vaughn oversees the Commission’s Arts Education programs, including grants for Arts Learning and Poetry Out Loud. Prior to joining the commission, Deb worked as school services manager for Portland-based Oregon Children's Theatre. A trained singer, actor, and writer, she was a public school artist-in-residence through Phoenix’s 21st Century Learning Grant. She has worked as a creative drama teacher in both Portland and Phoenix, Arizona, and served as the educational consultant for Sojourn Theatre's Freshman Initiative Project. She was a member of the Visioning Committee for the Right Brain Initiative and served on the executive team for Opera Theatre Oregon.

She was honored with a 2009 Sunburst Award for exemplary commitment to the arts and culture in education. Deb holds a MFA in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University and a BA in Theatre from University of Portland. A native Oregonian, Deb is continually exploring new areas of her home state and relishes spending time outdoors.

Brian Wagner manages the Commission's Community Development programs, including the Arts Build Communities grants program. Wagner and his family previously lived in Portland where he chaired Marylhurst University's music department. He returned to Oregon after twelve years as Executive Director of the Durango Arts Center in Southwest Colorado, where he also taught classical guitar studies at Fort Lewis College. A board member of Arts For Colorado, Wagner was named a Livingston Fellow by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to serve on the Colorado Education and Cultural Facilities Authority and was a Peer Assistance Network provider for the Colorado Arts Council.

Wagner earned his Bachelor of Music in performance from the University of Arizona and Master of Music from Lewis and Clark College.

Meagan Atiyeh manages Oregon’s Percent for Art in Public Places program, oversees the Commission’s Visual Artist Fellowships and Art in the Governor’s Office program. Prior to joining the staff of the Oregon Arts Commission, Meagan served in several capacities at the Portland Art Museum ’s Northwest Film Center, including festival director of the Northwest Film & Video Festival. A Portland native, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Writing, Literature and the Arts from Eugene Lang College, New School for Social Research, New York . Her writing has appeared in The Organ Review of Arts, and Deviant Fictions: An Anthology of Northwest Experimental Writing. Meagan serves on the Board of Visitors of the University of Oregon’s Architecture and Allied Arts Department and Disjecta Interdisciplinary Art Center, and lives in North Portland.

Kat Bell joined the Oregon Arts Commission staff in mid-January 2008, bringing her knowledge of statewide cultural groups and grants management from her previous position of Administrative Assistant for the Oregon Cultural Trust. In 2005 and 2006, she was the Office Manager of Oregon PeaceWorks in Salem and then a volunteer for Salem community arts groups such as the World Beat Festival. Kat Bell worked for Legislative Administration as a committee assistant to the Ways and Means Subcommittees on Transportation & Economic Development and Human Services during the 2005 session of the Oregon Legislature. As Executive Assistant, Kat coordinates the office operations and fields communication between the public and arts organizations throughout the state.