Board of Directors

Lily Gershon- President

Lily, of LilySilly Puppets, is a puppeteer, singer, producer and puppet maker. She has a  M.A. in Education  and has taught high school English, as well as Puppet Arts. She performs as part of a  jazz duo and sings in a number of languages. She lives at the Dacha Project, a collective homestead that she co-founded.

Matthew Ocone- Treasurer

Matthew is a musician based in Ithaca, NY. In addition to performing on solo classical guitar, he regularly plays with Isaac Sharp in The Dacha Guitar Duo, with violinist Bill Hurley in The Tarragon Duo, and with puppeteer Lily Silly. He lives at The Dacha Project, in Freeville NY, a sustainable homestead, where he manages a small vegetable farm. For info on his various musical projects, The Dacha Project, and his passion for Hippopotami, you can visit his website, www.matthewocone.com

Marietta Synodis- Secretary

Marietta is an interdisciplinary artist telling stories through acting, dance, puppetry, and radio. She is a member of Third Place Theater’s house improv team, the Bronze Medalists. Prior to moving to Ithaca, she worked for the award-winning NPR show State of the Re:Union. She currently produces This Is Ithaca, a podcast about the community she now happily calls home. She, too, resides at the Dacha Project where she is [forever] building her own home.