Stella Aguirre McGregor
Founder and Executive Artistic Director

Stella is an artist, curator, and cultural worker with over 30 years experience creating ground-breaking programs nationally and internationally. Her practice explores the role of art in society, as part of everyday life, and as a catalyst for social change, culminating in her founding of Urbano in 2009. Previously, Stella served as Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation, was Program Manager for Individual Artists at the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and was Senior Arts Administrator for the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project Public Art Program. Upon her arrival to Boston in 1986, she founded the Space, an award-winning non-profit artist-run experimental gallery in the South End. Stella has received the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Excellence in Arts Education Award, was named one of Boston’s Top 10 Women in the Arts, and most recently the Community Builder Award by Egleston Main Street, among others.

Sterre Boerkamp (she/her/hers)
Programs Manager

Sterre is an illustrator and art educator who is interested in cultivating social change through making art with groups. Originally from the Netherlands, she and her family moved to Boston in 2023. She worked as an arts teacher, mainly in secondary special education, for almost ten years. She graduated with a Master of Education in the Amsterdam University of the Arts in 2022, specializing in designing and managing art educational projects that revolve around real world problems. Her project Anger Management can be seen in the book “Wicked Arts Assignments” (Valiz, 2021). As a new creative in town, she is excited to connect with other artists and educators who are interested in social justice, environmental topics and inclusive education.

Steven Velazquez (He/They)
Communications and Outreach Manager

Steven is an archivist, arts organizer, and community placemaker whose creative practice lies in developing more spaces for our communities where their stories can feel seen, heard, and understood. Stories both lived and living, spaces both digital and non-digital.

Although currently pursuing his masters degree in archives management (with a specialization in community archivism), Steven holds a BA in Anthropology from Brown University, as well as a work history with the Steel Yard, 95.5 WBRU-FM, New Urban Arts, the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the Spectrum Theatre Ensemble. At present, he’s based in Providence RI, and serving on the board of directors at Haus of Codec: a youth arts non-profit that’s committed to ensuring an end to transition-aged youth homelessness in Providence through arts-workforce development.

Maria Agnes Marewski
Development Consultant

Maria Marewski, MA, has been engaged in non-profit development since 1994 when she founded a non-profit media arts, technology, and education organization in Poughkeepsie, NY.  In this capacity she learned about fundraising, grant writing, and how to grow an organization.  Most recently she wrote grants for the Coolidge Corner Theater Foundation for program development and capital projects.

With a focus on youth development, the arts, critical thinking and creativity, Marewski has written successful grant proposals to Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts and many Boston focused foundations. In the past she has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Department of Labor, the Open Society Institute, the MacArthur Foundation as well as from United Way, local and county government and foundations. 

With an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Maryland and ongoing studies at the Harvard Extension Graduate School, Marewski has been an adjunct at Hunter College in NYC and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie NY.