Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, announced today the appointment of Shelagh Mahoney, CEO and owner of Eastern Salt Company,Inc., Eastern Minerals Inc., and Atlantic Salt, Inc., to its Business Committee for the Arts (BCA) Executive Board.  

 

With over 25 years of experience in the salt industry, Mahoney also serves as director of Compania Minera Cordillera SCM, a salt mining company in the Atacama Desert in Chile; Terminal Maritimo Patache SA, a port company in Northern Chile; and Irish Salt Mining & Exploration Company Ltd, a salt mining and distribution company in Northern Ireland. 

 

Atlantic Salt, Inc.—a family-owned and operated marine terminal that unloads salt from vessels and distributes it to public safety agencies in the New York metropolitan area for wintertime de-icing—was selected as a BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America honoree in 2013 for their sponsorship of the annual LUMEN festival on Staten Island, which features video and performance art by emerging artists and more established artists at the forefront of their media.

 

“Through her company Atlantic Salt, Shelagh Mahoney has been a strong supporter of the arts,” said Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “I look forward to working with her as a member of the BCA Executive Board as we continue to promote the many ways that the arts can advance business goals.”

 

“Atlantic Salt recognizes that partnering with the arts and hosting events presents great opportunities to keep up a constructive dialogue with our neighbors, local government, and local organizations and institutions,” said Mahoney. “Through the arts festivals and exhibitions that we have hosted, our industrial space has also become a community space where artists, local residents, and employees periodically gather to express themselves. Through art commissioned to interpret our work, artists and local residents better understand our business, and our employees better understand the neighborhood and community. Atlantic Salt’s employees welcome and enjoy opportunities to help artists install work on the dock for festivals and installations. This unlikely collaboration transforms our presence in the community into a positive, physical engagement with the neighborhood.”

 

A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Mahoney resides in Lowell with her husband Joe McNamee, who also works for Eastern Salt, and their children. Mahoney is an active supporter of the Nobel Maritime Museum in Staten Island, New York; the Boys and Girls Club of Chelsea, Massachusetts; the Boston Harbor Association, a non-profit that promotes a clean and accessible Boston Harbor; St. Patricks’ Church Lowell Restoration project; and the Academy of Notre Dame. Mahoney graduated from Fairfield University with a B.A. in economics, and received her MBA with a concentration in international business from Babson College. 

 

The BCA, a division of Americans for the Arts, works to ensure that the arts flourish in America by encouraging, inspiring, and stimulating businesses to support the arts in the workplace, in education, and in the community. The BCA Executive Board is comprised of business leaders who provide leadership and expertise on key BCA initiatives including messaging, advocacy, and strategic alliances.

 

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.