Dear Members of the Mesa Refuge Family,
I knew when I came to the Mesa Refuge eight years ago that part of my job was to establish a smooth transition to the second professional executive director. That transition is now underway and will conclude when I retire in June. I am so pleased to see that the Mesa Refuge is in great shape and the coming chapter will be an exciting one.
Very best,
Susan
Susan Page Tillett, Executive Director
Here’s to Eight Great Years!
Susan Page Tillett, our first professional executive director, will retire at the end of June, 2022, after eight years at the helm of the Mesa Refuge.
“Susan has been a phenomenal executive director who knew exactly what needed to be done and then got it done—with grace, humor and efficiency,” said Peter Barnes, who founded Mesa Refuge in 1998. “She transformed the Mesa Refuge from a rag-tag start-up into a mature organization that will long endure. We are so grateful for her skill, commitment and magic!”
Under Susan’s leadership, the Mesa Refuge developed a strong legal and financial infrastructure, obtaining the organization’s 501c3 status, which allowed us to become an independent not-for-profit organization, with our own active board and professional staff. Susan built a fundraising program from scratch: over the past eight years, she has led campaigns that raised more than $3 million dollars and established a legacy gift circle. She developed the Fellowship Program, in which major donors make a multi-year commitment to support writers in an area of the Mesa Refuge mission: environment, economic equity and social justice. The ambitious fundraising effort allows writers to spend two weeks in residency at no cost to themselves. The Mesa Refuge has hosted more than 1,000 residents.
Susan, the former executive director of Ragdale and coauthor of The Ragdale House Speaks, initially came to Mesa Refuge as a writing resident. “I never planned to run a second artist community, but I fell in love with the Mesa Refuge and wanted to help Peter build a strong foundation, so that this remarkable place will be here to welcome new generations of talented writers. Anyone who has had a Mesa Refuge residency knows its powers to restore and inspire. Not only are books written, but friendships are formed and lives are changed. It has been my life’s work to support the creative process and nowhere is it more alive than at the Mesa Refuge.
“West Marin has been my home during these past eight years, and it will continue to be. I will find new ways to interact with this wonderful community and to support the Mesa Refuge,” she added.
Susan forged strong ties in the West Marin community, creating partnerships with the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Pt. Reyes Books, and Commonweal, and launched a regular feature program on KWMR “Mesa Refuge Conversations,” hosted by Lyons Filmer, the former program director of the community radio station. “It is very satisfying to see that the proposal Susan made me in 2015—to air conversations with Mesa Refuge residents—has grown into a regular series on our station,” Lyons said. “Our listeners and hosts benefit from the stimulating and enlightening conversations with these individuals; each one’s work shows the good our human species is capable of.”
The Mesa Refuge now hosts a West Marin Community Fellows program where local nonprofit organizations nominate a writer or artist to spend time in residence at the Mesa Refuge. This has led to additional collaborations, including the REFUGE exhibition, which was featured at the art gallery at Toby’s Feed Barn to commemorate the organization’s 20th anniversary in 2018.
Donna Faure, executive director of the Point Reyes National Seashore Association, called Susan “a cherished partner who appreciates a walk in the park as much as a good story.” Donna added, “I especially treasure the conversations we had with the six writers and artists we brought together to look at the impact of climate change in parks as part of the National Park Service centennial.”
In addition to Ragdale, where she served as the executive director from 2000 to 2012, Susan held posts at the Smithsonian, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Chicago History Museum. She also served on the board of the Alliance of Artist Communities, and was instrumental in establishing its Emerging Programs Institute, working closely the National Endowment for the Arts to establish special funding for artist residencies.
“Susan built on her ties to the national artist and literary community to create a broad and stellar reputation for Mesa Refuge,” said board president Elaine Elinson, noting that the organization, whose newsletter reaches 3,000 former residents and supporters, now receives hundreds of applications from diverse writers in multiple genres from around the country.
Janet Heller, the founder and director of Chapter 510, an Oakland-based youth writing and publishing center, said, “Susan’s welcoming spirit has created possibilities and momentum for our Oakland artists. She has provided our teachers with a place dedicated to creative rest–a delicate balance.”
Susan will head Mesa Refuge until the end of June 2022. The board is conducting a national search for a new executive director.