Liz Fitzgerald

Executive Director

Liz Fitzgerald This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Liz Fitzgerald joined the Cabarrus Arts Council as its executive director in January 2022. She comes to Cabarrus with over 25 years of experience working in community service, higher education and community arts organizations. As Director of Community and Artist Support at the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, Liz supported creative individuals and non-profit arts organizations through grant opportunities, professional development and capacity building initiatives.

Liz completed her BA at Luther College, and her MA at the University of Iowa, where her studies focused on community service-learning opportunities and higher education. In addition to a career in non-profit and higher education fields, Liz has served in multiple board leadership capacities with performing arts, LGBTQ+, and women’s advocacy organizations.

In her free time Liz performs with One Voice Chorus of Charlotte, a community-based LGBTQ+ and ally choral ensemble.

Our Team

The Cabarrus Arts Council staff is a team of professionals that brings a combination of knowledge, experience and talent to the council. Skill, character and competence are evident in each member, and the team has specialists in a variety of art disciplines: theatre, dance, music, literary and visual art.

Visitors to the galleries and theatre discover a friendly, warm atmosphere where everyone is accessible. Community partners quickly learn that the arts council Executive Director and staff are team players, working for the good of the whole.

Rebecca Collins

Visual Arts Director

Rebecca This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rebecca Collins received her Bachelor’s degrees in Art History and Fine Art from Hofstra University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Business Administration. While obtaining her undergraduate degrees, she worked for The Roerich Museum and Marvelli Gallery in New York City. Rebecca continued her professional career working with 19th and early 20th century American paintings at Hawthorne Fine Art in Manhattan, where she served as Assistant Director and contributed to the procurement and sales of historic works from such artists as Frederick Carl Frieseke, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Maurice Prendergast, Childe Hassam, George Inness and Martin Johnson Heade. After relocating to North Carolina in 2009, she accepted a position as Director of Wooden Stone Gallery, and while there discovered the exceptional talent of contemporary artists and artisans of the Southeast.

Since joining the Cabarrus Arts Council as the Visual Arts Director in 2013, Rebecca has curated over twenty exhibitions for The Galleries and launched numerous programs, including A Closer Look, Art Lab and Family Day – each designed to fulfill the mission of engaging the community with contemporary art.

Lisa Baker McCombs

Operations Director

Lisa This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lisa Baker McCombs is a cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina Charlotte where she received a BA in Communication Studies in 2008. After completing the Disney College Program internship in Florida, she interned with Clear Channel Radio and was hired to work with radio programming, traffic networking and event promotions. Lisa has been involved with arts all of her life, participating in art camps, dance choreography and competition choirs throughout Cabarrus County. At Concord High School, she took several semesters of theatre and was the winner of the 2003 Theatre Award for "Outstanding Leadership and Director Assistance."

She was first introduced to the Cabarrus Arts Council during an Art Walk with her family and friends and joined the arts council staff in July 2008. Lisa is a 2014 alumna of the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Cabarrus program.

Elisabeth Thornton

Public Relations Director

elisabeth This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Elisabeth Thornton spent several years as a journalist before joining the Cabarrus Arts Council as its Media Relations Coordinator in August 2016. She’s written hundreds of feature articles on the arts, as well as on innovative science discoveries, marketing trends and profile pieces. Her work has appeared in the Miami Herald, The Seattle Times, The Columbus Dispatch, The News & Observer and the Independent Tribune, among others. While an independent reporter for The Charlotte Observer, she also wrote prolifically on interests pertaining to Cabarrus County.

Elisabeth has an extensive background in radio broadcasting, performing as on-air talent, providing voiceover work, and producing radio commercials. She is a former co-host of a top-rated Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) morning radio show in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Elisabeth earned a BS in Secondary Education: English from the State University of New York, and has taught writing and literature to middle and high school students.

Jennifer Cotton

Bookkeeper

Jennifer This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Patrons of the Davis Theatre may recognize Jennifer as one of the ushers who showed them to their seats during a performance. A volunteer turned employee, now Jennifer has a new role as the Cabarrus Arts Council's bookkeeper.

A graduate of Montreat College, Jennifer holds an A.S. in Business Administration and is in the process of receiving her license as a Certified Public Bookkeeper. She has worked in the administrative field for over 10 years, but has found her niche in accounting, where she has worked the past four years.

A graduate of Northwest School of the Arts, Jennifer majored in dance. When not working, she enjoys attending her children's plays, band concerts and sporting events.

Jennifer lives in Harrisburg, NC where she is happily married to Matthew Cotton and has four children: Arianna, Kaleb, Mattison and Montana.