The Monmouth Arts 2025 Arts Education Awards will be held on Thursday, May 8, 2025
at at Monmouth University, Rechnitz Hall - DiMattio Gallery. 
 

COMMUNITY CHAMPION OF ARTS EDUCATION

Honoring John McEwen

Executive Director - New Jersey Theatre Alliance

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John McEwen is a nonprofit arts executive with over 35 years of experience in fundraising, program planning, board development, and strategic planning. Currently, John serves as the Executive Director of New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a service organization for the state and region’s 42 professional theatres. Under John’s leadership, the Alliance successfully completed an endowment campaign and has led several initiatives benefiting the state’s entire arts sector in the areas of equity and access. John founded the Cultural Access Network Project, a program of New Jersey Theatre Alliance and New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Prior to the Alliance, John served as Vice President for Development of the New Jersey Network Foundation. Before joining NJN, John served as the Director of Development for Paper Mill Playhouse. John is a trustee of the Fund for New Jersey Blind and serves as the Secretary of the Board for MidAtlantic Arts, a regional arts service organization. Numerous state and national organizations have recognized John for his work in the areas of arts access, fundraising, and advocacy. Among John’s honors are the Excellence in Accessibility Award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Robert Smythe Award for Outstanding Fundraising Professional from the Association of Fundraising Professionals/New Jersey Chapter, and the Byrne/Kean Arts Advocate Award from Paper Mill Playhouse.

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ARTS EDUCATION LEGACY AWARD

Honoring Lynn Reich

Former Monmouth Arts Board President and Art Educator

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Lynn Reich is a lifelong resident of Monmouth County and a Freehold Borough High School graduate. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the University of Bridgeport. She pursued graduate studies in Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her professional teaching career began at Curundu Junior High School in the Panama Canal Zone, where she taught art to grades 7–9. She went on to teach in the Freehold Township School system for decades, working with grades 6–8. Additionally, she served as Park Supervisor for the Freehold Borough-YMCA Summer Recreation Program. 

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Her political career includes being elected four times to the Freehold Borough Council (1978, 1981, 1984, 1987), where she served as Police Commissioner, Personnel Chair, and liaison to numerous committees and commissions. She was a three-time candidate for the New Jersey State Assembly. She held leadership roles in the Monmouth County Community Development Steering Committee, the Monmouth County Commission on the Status of Women, and the New Jersey Association for Elected Women Officials, where she served as President in 1990. A dedicated community leader, she has held long-term board and executive positions with a wide range of civic, educational, and arts organizations, including the Freehold Borough Recreation Commission, the Monmouth Arts, the Freehold Borough Educational Foundation, the Friends of the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center, and the Freehold Borough Arts Council, among many others. Her lifelong service has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Monmouth County Woman in Achievement Award, the Monmouth County Democratic Organization Achievement Award, and the NJ State Senate Women in History Award. Lynn is married with two children and two grandsons.

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OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR IN PERFORMING ARTS

Honoring John Lebitsch

Band Director, Forrestdale Middle School

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John is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where he studied music education and trombone performance and performed with the 260-member Hawkeye Marching Band. He began his teaching career at Forrestdale School in the Rumson School District, New Jersey, where he has served as band director for the past twenty-six years, leading three concert bands, a jazz band, and chamber ensembles. Since his arrival, the bands at Forrestdale have earned numerous superior ratings and Esprit De Corps awards at Music in the Parks. Mr. Lebitsch also teaches a World Music Drumming class, coordinates the annual Tri-District Music Festival, is the technical director for Rumson’s Got Talent, sound designer for the drama club musicals, and leads the school’s faculty rock band, The Uncommon Core, which performs for school functions and provides community outreach. In his time at the Rumson school district, Mr. Lebitsch was honored with the Governor’s Award for Educator of the Year in 2011 and 2024.

 

Outside of school, Mr. Lebitsch’s other music endeavors include playing tuba with the Band of the Two Rivers in Fair Haven and singing in the choir at Trinity Church in Red Bank. For the past twenty-four years, Mr. Lebitsch has been playing trombone in The Infernos Band, with notable performances in Hong Kong, a concert tour in Italy, and opening acts for the band Chicago, Barry Manilow, Lady Gaga, and Tony Bennett. 

 

When not making music, Mr. Lebitsch enjoys going on outdoor adventures, including skiing and mountain biking in Vermont. He feels blessed to be working in a community that values the arts and where he can ignite the potential of his students. It’s the students who provide the most inspiration, and there’s no better feeling than seeing them continue their music pursuits in high school and beyond!

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OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR IN LITERARY ARTS

Honoring Christine DeMarsico

English & Creative Writing Teacher, Asbury Park High School

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Christine DeMarsico believes that love is the panacea for changing the world. A wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, writer, and restaurateur, she leads with love and wears her heart on the outside. For over twenty years, Christine has served as a high school English teacher and debate coach in an urban school district, mentoring hundreds of students to discover their voice and brilliance. She has done this transformative work in partnership with organizations such as Project Write Now and KYDS.

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Christine holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing. Through her work and her stories, she seeks to inspire, uplift, and transform every life she touches.

 

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OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR IN VISUAL ARTS

Honoring Frank Mainieri

Visual Arts Teacher, Long Branch High School

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Frank, a gifted artist, laid the foundation for his artistic journey by earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Stockton University in 1991. He graduated at the top of his class and received the university purchase award; his painting, “Uncle Hank,” is now part of the university's permanent collection in the Arts & Sciences wing. Before dedicating himself to education, Frank worked as a staff artist for an event planner and as a colorist for Archie Comics. In 2000, he transitioned to teaching middle school math and science in Long Branch, New Jersey. Then, in 2010, he moved to the high school level to teach art. In addition to his teaching career, Frank actively exhibits his paintings in various galleries. His work has been showcased in Philadelphia, Hudson, NY, Asbury Park, Red Bank, and at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft.

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