ABOUT CROZET ARTS
Crozet Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization in Crozet, Virginia, dedicated to providing enriching and affordable arts education for people of all ages. Founded in 2009 as Old Crozet School Arts and officially becoming a non-profit in 2012, Crozet Arts grew from a community vision to revitalize the historic Old Crozet School as a center for culture and creativity.
Today, Crozet Arts offers high-quality classes and workshops in dance, music, theatre, and visual and creative arts, taught by experienced and highly qualified instructors. The organization serves preschoolers through seniors, with programming scheduled throughout the day to meet the needs of diverse learners—including homeschoolers, working adults, and school-aged students.
Guided by a committed Board of Directors, Crozet Arts continues its original mission: to make the arts accessible, to foster a vibrant, interconnected arts community under one roof, and to support the growth of a cultural center for western Albemarle County.
Meet Our Artistic Leaders
Sharon D. Tolczyk
Artistic Director
Co-Founder, Crozet Arts
Sharon Donohue Tolczyk previously taught ballet on the faculties of the Boston Ballet School, Walnut Hill School for the Arts (Natick, MA), Boston Ballet’s Children’s Summer Dance Workshop, Amherst Ballet Centre (MA), Schwarz School of Dance (Dayton, OH), Wright State University’s PRODANCE, Albemarle Ballet Theatre, and at the Greenwood Community Center. At Walnut Hill School, she was a member of the Dance Department’s Ballet faculty, and Director of the Dance Extension Division and residential Summer Dance Workshop. Prior to her teaching career, Sharon danced with the Dayton Ballet Company and Peridance, a contemporary ballet company in New York City. At Dayton Ballet, she also served as Ballet Mistress for the company and Dayton Ballet II. As a choreographer, she has created ballets for the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company, Dayton Ballet II, Walnut Hill, Albemarle Ballet Theatre, and now at Crozet Arts. Sharon received her early training at the Princeton Ballet and in London, England. She studied at Walnut Hill School and the Amherst Ballet Centre during high school, and completed the Major Exams for the Royal Academy of Dancing, London, qualifying her as an Associate Member. After high school, she attended the pre-professional program as a scholarship student at the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet for two years, under the mentorship of Lupe Serrano, and performed in the Pennsylvania Ballet’s Nutcracker. During her professional dancing career, she studied in New York City with Maggie Black, Marjorie Mussman, Benjamin Harkarvy, Larry Rhodes and others. She attended workshops with the Twyla Tharp and Paul Taylor dance companies. After moving to Charlottesville in 1996, Sharon studied art at PVCC with Chica Tenney, John Hancock, and Rebekah Wostrel, and at Mary Baldwin College with Sue Marion. She was a T.A. at Murray Elementary School, where she also served as Chair of the PTO’s Cultural Enrichment for three years, and was an Art Print volunteer. These experiences outside of Ballet nurtured her passion for “cross training” in the arts, which ultimately inspired her pursuit, with Co-founder Mollie Washburne, of creating Crozet Arts. Sharon is a member of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society. She and her husband, Dariusz, have two adult children, and live in western Albemarle.
Boomie Pedersen
Resident Artist
Co-Founder, The Hamner Theater
Boomie Pedersen was born and raised in New York City (but for a couple of years in Princeton, NJ, where she met Crozet Arts’ Artistic Director Sharon Tolczyk, at Princeton Ballet Society, and where they performed in Sleeping Beauty together.) In NYC, Boomie was a scholarship dancer with the Joffrey Ballet. She chose to forgo a career in dance and attended Princeton University where she majored in Theater and Dance, and English. She earned her MFA in Pedagogy and Performance from VCU in 2017. She has lived in Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, Crozet and Charlottesville, acting, directing, writing, teaching and raising her 6 children. Since moving to the area in 1995, Boomie has been active in both the Charlottesville and Richmond theater scenes as actor, director, producer of new works, audience, acting coach and teacher. Boomie is Founding Artistic Director of The Hamner Theater, a project-based theatre company whose mission is to boldly serve and heal our communities through conversation-provoking theatre in creative spaces. #letstalkaboutit! Recent work at the Hamner includes The Newtown Project, focused on uncovering the environmental and human costs of greed and oppression through local events; the VPSI – Virginia Playwrights and Screenwriters Initiative promoting the development new work; an ongoing collaboration with UVA Playwrighting Professor and playwright Doug Grissom – Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard and coming in Oct. of 2026, The Seagull; as well as easily tourable productions that travel to non-traditional venues, bringing theater to those for whom it is less accessible. When she is not directing or acting, Boomie runs HIT, the Hamner Improv Troupe, which meets weekly and is open to the public and free of charge; teaches acting, improv, Shakespeare; and coaches actors for auditions and in roles in which they have been cast. She lives with an Envigo beagle named Francis Bacon and Maurice, a tiny, white poodle mix and escape artist. But her most important role to date was as caregiver for her mother Carol, who lived with dementia, and who shuffled off this mortal coil in January of 2023.
Dr. Elizabeth Cantrell,
Resident Artist
Director, Suzuki Cello
"Dr. Beth" is the Director of Suzuki Cello at Crozet Arts, in Residence at Crozet Arts. She teaches cellists of all ages throughout the US and the UK. She is very active with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, which reaches from Alaska to Patagonia, as a Registered Teacher Trainer, and as former Chair of its governing board. She has taught children and adults at Suzuki Institutes and workshops throughout the United States and abroad for over 30 years. Locally, Dr. Beth maintains an active private studio at Crozet Arts. She performs as principal cellist of the Waynesboro Symphony, is a member of the Afton String Quartet, and plays regularly with groups throughout the region. She was, for many years, principal cellist for the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and was on the faculty of Kennesaw State University and Mary Baldwin University. Dr. Cantrell earned degrees in cello performance and music history from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Florida State University, and the University of Georgia. Prior to moving to Virginia with her family in 2001, she was principal cellist for the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and was on the faculty of Kennesaw State University. She was active in the Atlanta area for 18 years as a teacher, chamber and orchestral performer, adjudicator, and recording studio musician.
Meet Our Board of Directors
Justine Donnelly
Treasurer .
Susannah Hornsby
Susannah is the CEO of a boutique marketing and consulting firm, where she helps translate real-world stories into compelling online presence and brand strategy. With experience across e-commerce and retail, she brings a thoughtful, creative approach to mission-driven work and is thrilled to support Crozet Arts. A singer and musician, Susannah also serves as President of the Crozet Community Chorus, a nonprofit, secular, non-competitive, non-audition chorus based in Crozet. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and first lived in Crozet during and after her undergraduate years. After a decade in New York City, she returned to the area full-time in 2016. Her daughter is a ballet student at Crozet Arts, and Susannah values the organization’s commitment to nurturing both artistic growth and human connection. In her spare time, she plays accordion, makes dense cakes, and loves to build things.
Sharon D. Tolczyk
Ex officio .
Megan Dair
Board Chairperson .
Philippa Belsches
. .
Dr. Beth Cantrell
Advisor to the Board .
Andrew Green
Andrew is a dynamic nonprofit leader who blends management, development, and data-driven marketing with an artist’s creativity to advance mission-driven organizations. He has served for seven years as Marketing & Development Director at the Heifetz International Music Institute in Staunton, where he leads fundraising, grant writing, and multi-channel marketing and multimedia strategy for an organization with both local and international reach. He also serves as Treasurer of Valley Music Academy in Waynesboro, a nonprofit community music school where he teaches banjo. Prior to his nonprofit career, Andrew worked as a full-time musician and educator, performing as a banjoist, guitarist, bassist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. In his spare time, he enjoys playing bike polo, practicing the sousaphone, and baking bread.
Maria Pike
. .
Boomie Pedersen
Advisor to the Board .
Carolyn Lawlor
Carolyn retired in 2011 after 14 years as Head of School at The Free Union Country School (VA), serving preschool through fifth grade. She previously served five years on the Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission for Children and Families. She is now a Literacy Volunteer and a Certified Pet Therapy volunteer with her Australian Shepherd, Bentley, working with patients at the Kluge Rehabilitation Center for Children, UVA Hospital’s Coronary Care Unit, and The Lodge at Old Trail. Carolyn moved to Charlottesville in 1997 and to Batesville in 2006. She joined the Crozet Arts Board in 2014
Sue Chase
. .
Katie Williams
Darden Golub Capital Board Fellow 2025-26