Our Team

Black-and-white studio portrait of John Sutton, Ben Beres, and Zac Culler in suits, posed in a vintage family-portrait style referencing their ongoing project titled Sears Portraits.

SuttonBeresCuller

Founders

Mini Mart City Park was conceived and founded by artist collective SuttonBeresCuller (SBC), a group of three Seattle-based artists—John Sutton, Ben Beres, and Zac Culler—who have been working together for over twenty years as a cooperative entity rooted in a distinct, strictly collaborative. Over the past two decades, they have explored ways to engage viewers through sculpture, performance, public art and site-specific installation that often attract (sometimes unsuspecting) audiences to new readings of and approaches to political, social, cultural, and artistic issues.

For more information on SBC and other projects, visit suttonberesculler.com, BenBeres.com, and ZacCuller.com.

Emily Kelly

Executive Director

Emily Kelly is a curator and administrator with comprehensive experience working within the field of visual and contemporary art for over a decade. Her professional path began with a focus on education within arts-based community and youth programming and has evolved to encompass executive level leadership at venerable contemporary art spaces. In 2024 she took the helm of Mini Mart City Park (MMCP) as their inaugural Executive Director after serving as a member of the Board of Directors since 2020. Prior to her leadership role at MMCP, she was the Executive Director and Curator of MadArt Seattle (2017 - 2024) and Interim Director of the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin (2016 -2017). Kelly’s work is driven by a foundational belief in art’s capacity to act as a catalyst for community development and to facilitate a deeper understanding of the complexities of the world surrounding us.

Alissa Dymally Williams

Gallery and Program Manager

Alissa Dymally Williams is a new media artist from Washington D.C., currently based in Seattle. Anchoring photography as a focal point in her work, Williams moves into an interdisciplinary practice that culminates in video installation and site specific work. Her current work pushes against the archetype of the image by moving further into the abstract through varied methods of manipulation; keeping her relationship with composition and style close at hand. By way of concept, material and her own cultural consumption, Williams aims to transform the viewer’s perception of the image and upend the construct in which we consume it. Williams is a current board member and exhibitions and programs manager of Mini Mart City Park, an ongoing project by founders SuttonBeresCuller. Williams received her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in 2023. 

Fedora Williams

Education Program Manager

Born on the family farm in Kansas, Fedora Williams is a fifth-generation farmer, who has worked, traveled, and lived all over the USA. From working as a truck stop waitress to traveling tattoo photographer to art gallery owner, Williams brings a wide range of skills and experience to Mini Mart City Park. She has been residing and growing food in Seattle since 2003 and has been a resident and active community member of the Duwamish Valley since 2012. In early 2016, Williams made a career shift from art to managing urban farms/gardens, mentoring under-resourced youth, and developing environmental educational programs for Duwamish Valley youth. She offers a passion for interactive education, ecological restoration, fiber art, photography, and urban food forestry. Williams is a Pisces who enjoys slow walks in the forest, rainbows, camping, puppies, and power tools.

Zoe Potter

Gallery Assistant

Zoe Potter, originally from Coeur d’Alene Idaho, is a Seattle based artist. She recently graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. Potter is a mixed-media painter and sculptor working through experimentation and intuition to create work that reflects a constant inquiry into space, the evolving self, and the human experience. Her passion for the arts brought her to Mini Mart City Park as the latest addition to the team. She is interested in the way a space can bring all types of people together to create a greater understanding of the arts, art education, and environmental education.

Board of Directors

  • Ben Beres

    PRESIDENT

    Ben brings his passion for collaborative, community-focused art to guiding Mini Mart City Park. A professor of printmaking at Cornish College of the Arts, he also works across multiple mediums in his own practice—including glass, performance, and curatorial projects—and draws on this experience to shape programs, exhibitions, and public initiatives. At Mini Mart, Ben helps create opportunities that connect people with art, support local artists, and foster deeper engagement with the community.

  • John Sutton

    VICE PRESIDENT

    John’s work with Mini Mart City Park is an extension of his deep-rooted commitment to environmental stewardship. He currently divides his practice between Seattle and the care of 40 acres of forested wetlands north of the city—a landscape that directly informs his research into the intersection of art and ecology. At Mini Mart, John translates this immersive relationship with the land into civic action, advocating for the transformation of contaminated brownfields into vibrant, remediated hubs for arts and environmental advocacy.

  • Zac Culler

    TREASURER

    Drawing on his practice as a painter and sculptor, Zac brings creativity and care to Mini Mart City Park’s board. He oversees the organization’s financial health and planning, helping ensure Mini Mart can continue supporting artists, educators, and public programs. A father of two, Zac is personally invested in creating welcoming spaces that spark curiosity and creativity for future generations.

  • Jackie Mena

    BOARD MEMBER

    Jackie Mena is a community organizer working to democratize land, money, and resources through knowledge sharing, policy change, and community building. Over the years, she has worked in several capacities for local nonprofits and political campaigns, and currently serves as a Strategic Advisor for the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. A resident of the Greater Duwamish area, Jackie is excited to serve on the board of Mini Mart City Park and lend her capacity to the stewardship and development of a local community asset and dynamic cultural space.

  • Seth Geiser

    BOARD MEMBER

    Seth Geiser is the Urban Design Manager for the Downtown Seattle Association. His work focuses on people-centered urban design, integrating cultural activation and installation art as methods for civic placemaking. In his work, he has developed pedestrian street and parklet pilots for Seattle's Department of Transportation, coordinated design lab events for The Happy City, and did a bunch of other odd jobs during the various recessions. He holds a Masters of Urban Planning and Masters of Public Administration from The University of Washington.   

  • Black and white photo of Amy Shuster

    Amy Shuster

    BOARD MEMBER

    Amy Shuster is a Senior Project Designer and Project Architect, involved in community projects in Seattle since the late 1990s. Her diverse body of work includes art museums, educational buildings, community centers, wineries, high-end residential, and art installations. Outside of architecture, Amy has been involved in theater as an aerial performer and has a passion for dance and music. Joining the MMCP board in 2024, Amy has assisted the team in their campus expansion project, providing design concepts and drawings for site improvements. She is currently collaborating on MMCP’s first permanent commission, focusing on a vertical rain garden and water catchment system, which will be used as a teaching tool.

  • Lydia Boss

    BOARD MEMBER

    Lydia Boss is a Turkish-American artist whose work investigates themes of identity, time, and nature through a millennial lens. Surfaces and experiences are manipulated in her work through the use of glass, photography, collage, and new media. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she has been a resident artist at The Museum of Glass and Pilchuck Glass School. Currently the Program Director at Artist Trust, Lydia oversees annual planning, implementation, and evaluation of all artist grants, resources, and professional development programs. She also serves on the Support for Individual Artists Committee at Grantmakers in the Arts, the only national organization dedicated to connecting and supporting funders of individual artists across the United States.

  • Could this be You?

    OUR NEXT BOARD MEMBER

    Have you ever thought about becoming a board member at MMCP? Contact us to learn more!