The Leadership Team
Ilona Somogyi
Executive Director & Co-Founder
Ilona is one of the three original founders of Ball & Socket Arts and has been actively working on making this project a reality since the fall of 2011. She is a theatrical Costume Designer by trade and is proud to be professor in the design department at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, which is also her alma mater. She has worked as a professional costume designer at regional and commercial theaters in New York City, around the country and in Europe. She has collaborated at non-profit theaters of many different sizes from very small artist initiated companies to multi-million dollar institutions. Locally, these include Hartford Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, Goodspeed Opera House and Williamstown Theater Festival. She received a BFA from Parsons School of Design and an MFA from the Yale. She has been a Cheshire resident since the age of five and is committed to creating a vibrant and important home for arts and culture in her hometown. Since founding Ball & Socket Arts, she has become a massive fan and supporter of historic preservation and the many allied crafts associated with it.
Bill Conant
Facilities Manager
Bill Conant, worked as the General Superintendent at Fusco Management in New Haven for 31 years, where he managed an operations portfolio of over 5.5 million square feet in Connecticut, New York and Florida. The facilities portfolio included Class A office buildings, retail facilities, medical facilities, laboratory and research buildings, education and institutional properties and municipal facilities. During his career he has managed facilities operations in brownfield sites in Manchester and New Haven CT. Bill specializes in project management, building operations, specification development, emergency services development, building code, fire and public safety, preventive maintenance and energy conservation.
Ron Bergamo Jr.
Board Chair
Ron Bergamo Jr, of Cheshire, Connecticut, is owner and president of the marketing & printing consulting firm Impact Production Group, LLC. He received his bachelor’s degree in information systems from Quinnipiac University’s School of Business. After serving on our Board for several years he is now the chair of the board of directors for Ball & Socket Arts, He also a member of the Board of Trustees for Cheshire Academy and has served on the boards of numerous charitable fund rating events including acting as co-chairman for the Victorian House Open golf tournament, which benefitted the Wounded Warrior Project.
Lydia Blaisdell
Director of Programming
Lydia Blaisdell has led artist residencies and created public arts programming throughout the Northeast. She also has a background in development and grant writing at several nonprofits, including SPACE on Ryder Farm, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and UJA-Federation. Lydia currently serves as a volunteer member on the Cultural District Commission for the City of New London. She holds an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers, and has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, Marble House Project, and Ucross. Lydia is thrilled to join the Ball & Socket Arts team at this critical moment of growth.
Jill Fletcher
Director of Development
Jill Fletcher brings a background in entrepreneur-ship, fundraising, marketing, placemaking, and historic preservation to her role as Director of Development at Ball & Socket Arts. She has spent her career building mission-driven initiatives, crafting compelling narratives, and cultivating strong community partnerships to secure philanthropic support and broaden public engagement. At Ball & Socket Arts, Jill leads development strategy and donor engagement, working closely with supporters to advance the transformation of the historic factory campus into a welcoming, creative destination for the region. Her work is guided by the belief that art, place, and community are deeply connected—and that preserving the past can inspire meaningful experiences for the future. jfletcher@ballandsocket.org
Board Members, Donors & Volunteers
All working together to make Ball & Socket Arts a reality!
Standing from left to right: Ruth Ratner, Regina Thornton, Barry Feldman, Anthony Carter, Cathi Waas, Larry Colberg, Signian McGeary, Corey Nash, Philip Anderson, Patricia Hartmann, Gregory Wolff, William Wolff, Jane Wolff, Joel Renker, Kathy Kaplan, Jay Kaplan, Tony Falcone, Jeff Stover, Mary Stover, Francois Tellier, Karin Arai, Joseph Ajello, Judi Riccio, Liz Linehan.
Seated from left to right: Kathy Smith, Natividad Carter, Mary A. Hobler Hyson, Elizabeth Hundt Scott, Joanne Peters, Tracey Peters, Roberta Havlick, Ann Marie Hearn, Deb Kaszas, Breina Schain, David Arai, Judith Andrews, Carol Goertz, Clare Leake, Csilla Somogyi
Front row : Kim Wantroba, Ron Bergamo, Ilona Somogyi, Kristof Somogyi, Andrew Martelli