Our Board of Directors

Double Scoop, first launched since 2018, became a federally recognized nonprofit organization in 2021. Our Board of Directors is an inspired, hard-working team that helps steer and operate Double Scoop.

Melanie Dolezal

In 2005, Melanie moved from Santa Cruz to Reno, where she found the art scene intimate and welcoming. By 2010, she was fully entrenched in the Burning Man art volunteer community as a builder, development consultant and fundraising coordinator. She’s worked with Reno Art Works, The Pier Group, and The Generator, Desert Research Institute and the UNR Small Business Development Center. Melanie is also the Finance + Development Director for Junior Achievement of Northern Nevada.

Elaine Parks

Elaine is a ceramicist and a Los Angeles native. She received her MFA from California State University, Los Angeles in 1999, then moved from a town of 14 million to Tuscarora, a town of 14. Her work has been exhibited at the Nevada Museum of Art, Oats Park Art Center, Marjorie Barrick Museum, Sierra Arts, The Holland Project, and galleries in California and Germany. Elaine taught art for seven years at Great Basin College in Elko and twice received the Nevada Arts Council Fellowship Award. She is co-director, instructor, and board member of the Tuscarora Pottery School.

Brandon Russell

Brandon cut his teeth on a 15-issue arts zine published on some of the better coin-operated photocopiers between Oakland and Mendocino, California before venturing to Reno in 2004. The desert changed him, and his focus narrowed to poetry and cryptozoological religious fervor in the mining camps of 19th century rural Nevada. His physical labor has at various times been in service to Manzanar National Historic Site, Tahoe Rim Trail Association, The Pier Group, and The Generator.

Ruby Barrientos

Ruby is a first-generation Salvadoran American artivist whose artistic style, Nuwave Mayan, incorporates their Salvadoran Mayan ancestry and heritage to create socially relevant works that blend traditional techniques with contemporary forms. Ruby has shown in galleries and museums locally, and their exhibits, talks, performances, public art, and community involvement demonstrate their dedication to promoting positive change through their art practice and advocating for social justice. Through their work, Ruby fosters meaningful conversations about creating a more inclusive future.

You can learn more about Ruby’s work on Double Scoop and on the Double Scoop Podcast.

Jeri Chadwell

Jeri is a writer and Nevada Press Association award-winning journalist who worked for years as an editor at the Reno News & Review. She loves Nevada’s history, politics, people and cultures. In her free time, Jeri enjoys exploring ghost towns in the Nevada desert and visiting antique stores in Reno for pieces of the state’s history to add to her extensive collection.