Staff - Saltonstall

Lesley Williamson

Executive Director

Since beginning her tenure as Saltonstall’s executive director in late 2011, Lesley has focused much of her efforts on making the residency more accessible and inclusive by eliminating barriers to entry. Her accomplishments include a six year effort to build an accessible studio and living space, which was completed in 2021. She led Saltonstall’s effort to eliminate their residency application fee and initiated an anonymous jurying process, shorter residencies, and residencies specifically for parents.

Lesley also developed new programs to serve more State-wide artists and writers and to respond to community need: short free retreats for local teachers; a residency specifically for NYS circus artists, and a new collaboration with the Latinx Playwrights Circle in NYC.

Previously, Lesley served as a program coordinator for Chautauqua Institution’s lecture series and as the director of the North Shore Arts Alliance in Chautauqua County, a grass-roots organization representing professional visual artists in all media. Lesley earned her BA in Cultural Studies from Hampshire College and a Master of Arts Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Rose Fritzky-Randolph

Program Assistant

Rose lives just a stone’s throw away from Saltonstall with her son, Crosby, who is currently in Kindergarten at nearby Caroline Elementary. She moved to Ithaca back in 2013 while completing her MA in Creative Writing at Binghamton University. Since then, she has worked within the Ithaca City School District, most recently as a teaching artist for the Hangar Theater, and as a digital media transfer specialist and photographer. When she’s not reading, writing or participating in the local music scene as a singer/songwriter, Rose can be found exploring the hiking trails and running along with the Finger Lakes Running Club.

David Pealo

Property Manager

Dave Pealo came to us in 2006 and is a true Renaissance man. When you hold the title Property Manager you have to be.

Dave plows in the winter and mows in the summer, maintains our hiking trails, fixes just about anything that breaks, and helps us brainstorm solutions to all manner of facility- and property-related challenges.

Dave owns Quality Property Maintenance and manages multiple properties throughout Ithaca.

Mandy Beem-Miller

Residency Chef

Mandy Beem-Miller has been cooking professionally — and for the love of it — since her first restaurant job in San Francisco over 22 years ago. She has worked in award-winning kitchens in both California and Ithaca and studied culinary arts and food communications in Florence, Italy.

After returning to Ithaca 17 years ago, she founded The Good Truck, a locally sourced food truck that served the community, as well as weddings, festivals, and special events, for nearly a decade.

In 2023, she found her calling as a teacher in the Food Service program at TST BOCES, where she leads a student-run coffee shop and kitchen alongside neurodiverse high school students.

Mandy joined the team at Saltonstall in 2018 and loves spending her summers cooking for the many talented artists and writers who pass through its doors.