About APAC

Jenn Hampton is an arts and experience curator who along with partner, Jill Ricci, owns the Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park. Jenn was also the driving force of Little Death Collective, the creative team that called the original Asbury Lanes home and she has curated shows regionally and globally for other innovative galleries and museums.

Working with Asbury Park’s boardwalk developer, Madison Marquette, Jenn created the iconic public art program known as the Wooden Walls Project that showcases murals and sculptural art on the boardwalk. Wooden Walls has facilitated the creation of 61 murals and 8 unique projects by nationally and internationally respected artists.

Hampton is a member of the City’s Public Art Commission and Business Committee and is a founding member of the Asbury Park Arts Council. She works closely with artists, arts focused organizations, government officials, community stakeholders, arts patrons and developers. Her vision and creativity as well as dedication to keeping the arts alive and thriving in Asbury Park are the guiding forces of the work of the Asbury Park Arts Council.

Kathy Kelly is the owner of Paranormal Bookstore and Museum in Asbury Park and founder KrampusAP and the Asbury Park Tour Company.

Kathy opened Paranormal Book & Curiosities in 2008 and The Paranormal Museum soon after to share her love of the strange and unusual with others.  A gifted storyteller, Kathy has a Master’s degree in history and find that the two go hand in hand.  Her lectures are intriguing and entertaining as well as illuminating and unique.

Kathy is the co-founder of Asbury Park Dinner Table and the head of the City’s Business Committee, working closely with city officials and local businesses on solving collective issues. Her indefatigable drive to promote Asbury Park’s business and creative community is in natural alignment with the mission of the Asbury Park Arts Council and only recently stepped down as the head of the City of Asbury Park’s Business Committee which works closely with officials and local businesses on collective issues.

Paul McEvily is the Executive Director of Asbury Park-based Interfaith Neighbors, Inc. (IFN), with oversight responsibility for enterprise-wide operations as well as the strategic direction for the community-based, not-for-profit that provides services to the less fortunate throughout Monmouth County. IFN focuses on community and economic development initiatives, development of affordable housing for the benefit of low-to-moderate income households, and the revitalization of distressed neighborhoods.

Formerly employed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Paul held various executive-level positions during the course of a twenty-three year career. He is member of a variety of community/civic focused organizations including: the New Jersey Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Task Force; Executive Committee of the Monmouth County Homeless Systems Collaborative; Board of Trustees of the Mary Owen Borden Foundation; and Board of Trustees of Second Life Bikes, Inc.

Paul’s keen understanding of all aspects of the non-profit world ensures that the Asbury Park Arts Council has in house expertise guiding their path. He has been instrumental in helping take the founders’ original idea for an arts council to present day status as an operating 501c3.

Michael Sodano is Chief Storyteller and Podcaster of ARTSRULE.com, an initiative dedicated to the examination of thriving arts communities. From 2009 to 2020 Sodano, along with partner Nancy Sabino, founded ShowRoom Cinemas – with movie theater locations in Asbury Park and Bradley Beach. Over the last 10 years, ShowRoom Cinemas grew in reputation to become the epicenter of independent film exhibition on the Jersey shore.

A professional filmmaker and videographer, Sodano produced two feature film documentaries, “Greetings From the Parking Lot” and the award-winning “Rock and a Heart Place” as well as many short video features for the city he calls home. With the new podcast, he continues to work on short story productions.

One of the founding members of the Asbury Park Arts Council, Mike applies his considerable creative and business experience to elevate the arts as a driving economic and civic benefit.

Carrie Turner became APAC’s Executive Director in late May 2022 after serving as Board President since the group’s inception. Turner was the Director of Planning & Real Estate at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey most immediately before assuming the Executive Director position. Prior to Rowan, she worked for Madison Marquette as the General Manager of the Asbury Park Boardwalk, where she handled tenant relations and acted as the developer’s liaison with the city and community on redevelopment matters. During her seven summers managing the boardwalk, she was also a Trustee of the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce and a member of the municipal Parking Committee.

Before moving to Asbury Park, where she still resides, Carrie both lived and worked in Camden, New Jersey. Her career started as a grant writer for an affordable housing non-profit and she later served as the Assistant Director of the Camden Redevelopment Agency during a period of state control and intense focus on the city’s recovery. Turner has worked closely with community stakeholders, developers, and all levels of government throughout her 20+ year career.

Turner is a lover of art and creativity, even going so far as to book far-off travel simply to see a specific painting or attend a performance. She is committed to using her community development background to assist the Asbury Park Arts Council in keeping arts and culture present in the minds of the city’s decision makers.