Meet Megan Preneta
This week, we are excited to launch our “Meet the MAC” series where you will get up close and personal with our patrons, artists, Board Members, volunteers, and the rest of our MAC family. Because up close and personal is what we’re all about!
Meet Megan Preneta |
Megan is as bright as the light that is shining behind her in this video clip. She was introduced to the MAC about one year ago through a friend and neighbor, Eliza Holcomb, who invited her to join the MAC's Endowment Committee to assist with fundraising efforts. She states “I was immediately taken by the passion of the MAC staff members and Board who work tirelessly and creatively to advance MAC's mission and bring one-of-a-kind experiences to the Milford Community.”
Megan is a 15+ year practicing in-house legal attorney for a NY-based public company. Her expertise involves public company representation, board and corporate governance, securities regulations, compliance, and financial and executive compensation reporting. Megan has utilized this expertise to help the MAC update by-laws, streamline processes, and improve compliance and governance.
A resident of Milford for 18 years, Megan lives with her husband of 20 years, David, her two boys, Matthew (14) and Nicholas (11), and two maltipoos, Teddy and Andy. She loves treasure hunting at nearby antique stores, traveling to tropical locales with family, experimenting with new recipes and restaurants, home restoration, dabbling in interior design, historical fiction, jazz and big band, and theatrical performances large and small. She sees all of these ‘loves’ as art. We do too!
We asked Megan to share a bit about how she came to love the arts and this is what she shared…
The arts have been a consistent thread in my life for as long as I can remember. Beginning with Sunday dinners at my grandparent’s house, our feast of slow-cooked tomato sauce, curly pasta and roast beef was always capped off with a round of music.
My tiny Italian grandmother, who could barely reach the pedals, would sit down at the piano and play song after song without a sheet of music in sight. She had that rare ability to play anything we requested simply by ear but favored the older tunes from her youth. She would also sing beautifully, knowing the words to most every song and cackling when she forgot some. She swayed as she played with a smile from ear to ear. I can still hear the sound of her fingernails tapping the keys.
Oftentimes my mother and her sisters would circle around the piano and join my grandmother singing in perfect three part harmony. As a child, it was magical to hear. I was in awe of them -- the sound of their blended voices, their unspoken cues to keep in synch, their laughter when someone skipped a verse, the looks of admiration and gratitude they exchanged.
In those moments, surrounded by family and music, my love of the arts began.
Megan’s personal hope for the MAC is that “the loyal followers and broader community of the MAC will rally around us with their support so we can continue to be the "heart of the arts" for a long, long time.”
We are ever-grateful for Megan Preneta… our Board member, our patron, our friend.