Mint Co-Founders & Board

Founded in 2015, Mint Artists Guild began as a labor of love for co-founders Linda Buck, Vickie Elmer and Mark Loeb. Detroit artist Hubert Massey joined within months. They launched the first Mint creative summer jobs program in 2016, and the rest is history. Our board consists of diverse artists, entrepreneurs, and educators who fervently believe in the transformative synergy of creativity and business. New members are admitted annually in November or December, but all board meetings are open to the public. Meetings are held every other month on Tuesdays or Wednesdays evenings, currently on Zoom.  Please contact us for more information. Board members list is current as of February 2022:

Co-Founders

Artist / Arts Educator – Linda Buck

Writer / Editor & Career Coach – Vickie Elmer

Events Organizer – Mark Loeb

Public Art Artist – Hubert Massey

Board Members

Alexis Bagley, President

This 23-year-old artist was born and raised in Detroit. She has created art from a very young age and used her talent in Mint’s Learn and Earn program during her senior year at Cass Tech. She served as a team leader for the Mint Creative Summer Jobs program for the last two virtual years. She loves to travel and creating Afro-futurism in her creative work. Alexis is currently attending college full-time.


Kelly O’Neill, Vice President

A retired General Motors marketing professional, Kelly O’Neill is an artist and sculptor whose work is sold at galleries and art fairs. She had a booth across from Mint Artists at the Funky Ferndale Art Fair in 2017 and soon after became a Mint Ambassador. O’Neill has created many Mint videos on our YouTube channel. She is currently the Mint’s marketing director, a volunteer role, and leads the Mint Marketing Working Group. Photo credit: Emma Burchusel


Vickie Elmer, Executive Director

Elmer has accelerated Mint’s growth during the pandemic by hiring more youth and engaging more funders. A freelance writer and editor who focuses on careers and business, she co-founded the organization and leads it day to day. She also started the Magic of Art in Palmer Park in 2015 and runs Mity Nice, a social enterprise that hires teens for summer jobs. photo credit: Nick Hagen


Hubert Massey, Co-founder

Massey is a revered Detroit artist and muralist.  He is the creator of major mosaics, frescos and murals in Detroit, Flint, and elsewhere. He loves working with young people; his son Matthew participated in our 2015 program and he engages in Mint’s education and summer jobs and his daughter Lia was in Mint in 2018 – 2019.


Jessica Considine

An artist and certified fabrication and custom welder.  Considine has worked for Integrity Shows, and sells her art at art fairs, events and on line.  She has competed in welding competitions and is helping Mint’s new alumni initiative.  See Jessica’s art on Instagram


James Gomez, Treasurer

James Gomez joined Mint as our financial lead at the end of 2017. Gomez is an auditor and accountant with a passion for helping youth. He has worked for a major music and concert company and smaller accounting firms. He was elected Mint’s treasurer in September 2018.


Baxter E. Hall

An avid volunteer who runs a podcast, Hall is a client executive with Kapnick Insurance and has more than 15 years experience in sales.  He founded Greenmen Group, which provides scholarships to a Ferndale High School Graduate each year.


Brian Moore

Brian Moore is the director of business development and diversity for Flex Automotive. An engineer by training and management consultant who often works in supplier diversity received the 2020 Corp! Magazine “Diversity Business Leader” Award. He also serves on the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is co-owner of Massey & Moore Art, with Mint co-founder Hubert Massey.  He is leading our corporate sponsorship development initiative.


James Purrington, Secretary

An associate at Dickinson-Wright, he specializes in patents and intellectual property law. He’s a graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law at Western Michigan University and works from the law firm’s Troy offices. He helped Mint Artists develop an employment agreement (pro bono) and is interested in working with our youth on intellectual property law.


Toni Topp

Toni Topp is a full-time student currently studying marketing at Queens University of Charlotte. She joined Mint as a summer marketing intern through the University of Michigan’s Wolverine Pathways program and returned during her senior year of high school. She also became a part of the Learn & Earn program the summer before she began her freshman year of college.


Charlene Uresy

Charlene Uresy is an artist known for her colorful clothing and jewelry, her vibrant smile, and her ample use of ancient African symbols on repurposed furniture. She sells her beautiful work, furniture and photographs, in fine art fairs and a few galleries. Charlene often takes photos at art and cultural events around Detroit and shares them on Facebook.


Linda Whitaker

A retired Detroit Public Schools principal, Linda Whitaker, has a leadership role in the Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club. She loves youth and art and she and her husband, David, have one of the best private collections of art in the Detroit. Linda helped Mint create its signature fundraiser Mint Masterpieces, held in a major collector’s home.


Margaret Wilson

A retired Detroit Public Schools assistant principal, Wilson has worked as a counselor for a housing organization and has volunteered in the community. She is an active art collector. She served as Mint’s board secretary for almost two years.