Gladys Miller-Rosenstein, Founder
Gladys Miller-Rosenstein is the Executive Director of the Puffin Foundation, Ltd, a philanthropic organization which endeavors to open the doors of artistic expression to those who are often excluded because of their race, gender, or social philosophy. Gladys became the director in the 1980’s after retiring from a twenty- five year teaching career. In addition to serving on the Board of the Teaneck Creek Conservancy she co-chairs the organization’s Eco-Art Committee which is responsible for steering the artistic and environmental vision of the restored 46-acre site. She is also on the Board of the Teaneck Festival of the Arts and a member of the Teaneck International Film Festival.
SARAH DAVOL, Co-chair
Sarah Davol has enjoyed a free-lance career as a musician on historical and modern oboes for over thirty years. In addition to performing, recording, and composing Classical and crossover music, Sarah has been a long-time advocate for preserving open parklands and wilderness, expanding small farms’ viability and other environmental and human rights issues. Sarah moved to New Jersey after living in New York City for a decade where she ran a ten-concerts-a-year series at the Vineyard Theatre. She also organized a seven-year rent strike on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
In 1998, she assembled some of NYC’s top freelance musicians and got to work commissioning music to call the community’s attention to open land that was endangered. The music ensemble became known as Englewinds, and the 46 acres of land that Gladys and Perry Rosenstein led to save became the Teaneck Creek Conservancy. Both Sarah and Englewinds have enjoyed a long association with the TCC. Englewinds’ first CD Tulpe features Sarah’s composition Wulangundawa’ken (Lenape for “Peace to all People”) which was premiered at the opening of the Peace Labyrinth in the Teaneck Creek Conservancy. The CD was listed for Grammy Nomination. Other of her compositions for the conservancy include Prelude and Lament for flute and oboe, and Teaneck Creek for children’s choir, which Hawthorne Elementary School students premiered at the conservancy’s Five Pipes art installation. Sarah has served on the Eco-Art Committee of the Teaneck Creek Conservancy since its inception, and joined the conservancy’s Board in 2022.
Her hobbies include gardening, swimming, walking in parks, and visiting farmer’s markets and art museums. She is married to horn player, R. J. Kelley.
Nitza Danieli, Co-Chair
Nitza is a teaching artist and contract educator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2002, she conducts tours, workshops and outreach programs incorporating a unique multi-sensory open ended approach that personalize and enriches participant’s experience.
Nitza’s work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was featured in the award winning documentary film by Alexandra Isles “Hidden Treasures: stories from a great museum” .
Since 2007, Nitza has been an Artist-in-Residence at Columbia University Medical Center in the Pediatric Neurology Clinic and in the the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant, serving their outpatient clinic and inpatient setting. As Director/ Artist-in-Residence In Peds Hem/onc/bmt since 2015, she established a partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to offer individual tours for families, to provide meaning full time for parent and child, as well as staff. This joint effort underwritten by Hopes and Heroes a 501(c)3 NPO that supports Peds Hem/Onc/BMT at CUMC.
As a sculptor, Nitza works in stone, concrete, plaster, clay, and mixed media.
Ravi Buddhdew
Ravi Buddhdew has proudly called Teaneck home for nearly a decade. He and his family reside walking distance from the Teaneck Creek Conservancy.
Ravi joined the Eco-Art Committee in December 2023. His fascination with eco-art blossomed after his family volunteered for the 5-pipe restoration/painting project in the summer of 2023. His goal as a member of the Eco-Art Committee is to support the development of youth art programs. He believes that guiding youth involvement in eco-art projects will be instrumental in inspiring them to take action on climate change.
Ravi works as a Packaging Engineer Consultant within the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry working on projects aimed at fostering sustainability. He is an engineer, holding degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology (B.E. & M.E.) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (M.S.). Additionally, he is a Terra.do Learning For Action Fellow.
Dave Chalek
Dave Chalek is the resident landscape designer for the Eco-Art Committee at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy and a member of the Weed Warriors.
Since 1999, Dave Chalek has worked in the field of Horticulture. He began his career working as a gardener for his mother’s landscape design and garden care business when he was a teenager. He quickly developed a passion for the plants he took care of and for the wildlife that they attracted.
Dave got the opportunity to help develop a permaculture vegetable farm in Colorado. The farm operated completely off the grid, growing fruits and vegetables for local markets. After this experience he was inspired to bring local vegetables to his hometown in NJ to grow flowers and plants to mitigate the destruction of our ecosystem due to urban sprawl. He refurbished a 1940’s glass greenhouse to grow organic plants, flowers and vegetables. With this, Sprout was formed. Dave is now the owner of Sprout Farms & Gardens, a local family run landscape design, build and horticultural care company specializing in sustainable, edible and biodiverse landscapes.
Dave’s professional experience has included design and installation of ornamental landscapes, backyard edible gardens, romantic sanctuaries, rooftop gardens, and urban retreats.
Dave is also a member of the New York Botanical Garden, the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association, the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association and Greenpeace.
Dave lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with his wife and their 3 rescue dogs.
Despina Metaxatos
Despina is both an artist an educator. Despina has served as a lecturer at Domincan College in New York and Bergen Community College where she has taught classes covering studio art, foundational principles, modern art history and a wide range of artistic techniques. Most recently Despina is expanding in landscaping to create living, ecologically minded art.
Anthony Santella Phd
Anthony is a Teaneck, NJ based sculptor and computational scientist. He earned a BA in Computer Science from New York University in 1999 and a PhD from Rutgers University in 2005. He is a Senior Research Scientist at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His research on graphics, computer vision, computational aesthetics and data analysis methods has been published in CHI, SIGGRAPH, NPAR, Cell and Nature Methods. Self taught as a sculptor Anthony’s current studio work focuses on carvings in reclaimed wood from storm-downed trees. His carefully wrought sculptures draw on world traditions of ritual woodcarving to explore modern dreams and nightmares. His work has appeared in numerous exhibits and is held in private collections throughout the US and abroad.