Our Team
- Nanci Decker | Executive Director
Nanci Decker joins the Denison Arts Council as Executive Director after more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership and arts advocacy. Throughout her career, she has worked to connect people with the arts through community programs, arts education, fundraising events, and cultural experiences that bring communities together.
Most recently, Decker served as Executive Director of the Cypress Creek Foundation for the Arts and Community Enrichment (FACE) in Northwest Houston, where she led organizational growth and developed programs that expanded access to the arts for audiences of all ages.
A graphic designer and stained-glass artist, Decker has long been both a supporter and practitioner of the arts. She is excited to bring her experience, creativity, and passion for community engagement to the Denison Arts Council and to help celebrate and strengthen the vibrant arts community throughout Denison and Grayson County.
- Amy May | fractional Chief Marketing Officer
Fractional CMO | Family-Business Advocate | Creative Strategist
The Creative Foundation
Raised in the home of an artist, Amy May has always seen the world through a creative lens. This lifelong appreciation for the arts, combined with a background in graphic design and education, provided the perfect foundation for her career: translating complex digital data into actionable growth and human connection.
A Legacy of Growth
With a career that has evolved alongside the internet itself, Amy brings a unique blend of creative intuition and data-driven strategy to the table. She spent years freelancing while raising her children—a season that taught her the true value of time and the necessity of efficient systems. That “milk and cookies” home office eventually grew into a full-scale agency when her sons, Jordan and Mason, joined her to scale the vision of May Media.
Community & Impact
Today, she serves as a Fractional CMO and consultant, specializing in business plans, evaluations, and high-level marketing strategy. Her mission is simple: to use her decades of experience to impact the lives of business owners and their families. At the end of the day, she believes in the power of the human element—a philosophy of “our family helping your family” that she carries into her work with the Denison Arts Council and the local creative community.
- Shelley Tate Garner | Social Media Manager
Joined the DAC in 2003
Committee Volunteer & Freelance Contractor • Artist • Graphic Designer • Museum Educator & Interpreter • Small Business Advocate
Shelley has a long history with the Denison Arts Council. She served as an officer multiple times in the early 2000s while operating Artplace Gallery & Framing on Main Street. Over the years, she has continued to volunteer in numerous capacities and currently contributes her expertise on both the Gallery and Marketing Committees and executes the DAC’s social media plan as a contractor since 2024.
She was part of the team that secured Denison’s Arts & Cultural District designation through the Texas Commission on the Arts and has been an active member of the Denison arts community for three decades. Shelley works as a freelance visual artist and graphic designer and serves as an adjunct professor at Grayson College and Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Her experience also includes teaching art and culture programs for all ages as a museum educator and developing temporary and traveling interpretive exhibits displayed at the Smithsonian and other venues across the United States.
Shelley holds a BA in Studio Art, a MA in Museum Studies, a MFA in Graphic Design, and professional certifications in Design Thinking and Leadership.
- L Williams | Gallery Manager
Elizabeth “L” Williams lives and works in Denison, where she manages gallery operations and performs various outreach and administrative duties for the Denison Arts Council.
L first came to the Denison Arts Council in 2024, a year after graduating with her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Studio Art. After she submitted her artwork for a show and assisted in installing the exhibition, DAC President Cindy Salem offered her an internship, and the rest is history! L has since transitioned from an intern to an official employee.
Following her first participation in an art show in 2021, L has displayed her work in over 20 art exhibitions. In addition to coordinating and installing 6 art exhibitions per year, assisting in festival and event coordination, and working at the gallery 5 days a week, L also created and leads Denison Sequential Arts, a free art program for teens and adults, as part of her role with the Denison Arts Council.
In her free time, L is an avid concertgoer and enjoys writing, painting, and drawing. In the coming years, she hopes to fulfill her duties with the Denison Arts Council while continuing to grow and build her body of work as an artist and writer.