Center Stage is located inside Suite C1747 in the College of Medicine, Room # C1747B and C1747Q
Office Phone: (717) 531-6421
Claire de Boer, M.S.
Director, Center Stage
email: cdeboer@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
One afternoon in December 2010, Claire de Boer was inspired by her experience as an informal musician in Penn State Hershey clinical areas. She recognized an opportunity to organize more arts opportunities for patients, caregivers and staff. Thankfully, the leadership supported the idea and let Claire loose to create and grow the programs, and the Department of Humanities gave her a happy home. Claire’s academic background is in psychology, education and the arts. She serves as vice president of the Board of Directors of the National Organization for Arts in Health.
Kerry Royer, B.A., M.P.S.
Arts Manager
email: kroyer@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Kerry Royer organizes music and art programs at the medical center and College of Medicine. Her academic background is in writing and she holds a master’s degree in art education and a graduate certificate in Arts in Medicine. She manages programs and writes for the Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine and Center Stage. She is a Managing Editor of Wild Onions.
Keeley Engle, B.A.
Penn State Cancer Institute Arts in Health Coordinator
email: kengle@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Keeley Engle began her involvement with Center Stage in 2012, exhibiting as a fine art photographer and performing with her band The Jayplayers throughout the medical center. Having studied business management, music, and studio art to gain her degree she was well poised to then expand her work with Center Stage in 2016, coming on board as a team member to coordinate programs directly within the Cancer Institute. In addition to her work with Center Stage, Keeley actively pursues a professional career as a singer-songwriter, performing most every weekend with her band all across the tri-state area.
Aleax Olivera
Coordinator, Artistic Improvement
email: aolivera@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Aleax joined Center Stage in 2021 as the Coordinator, Artist Improvement. She has a background in broadcasting and she worked for a number of years in broadcast news. Additionally, she has worked with local theatres as the front of house manager and can be occasionally found on the stage.
Lorna Davis, R.N.
Center Stage Assistant
email: ldavis7@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Lorna Davis’ professional background is in nursing and she has worked as a staff nurse on one of our medical floors. Lorna began as a volunteer with Center Stage soon after its inception in 2011. She has since hosted more than one hundred live music performances. Lorna particularly enjoys observing the expressions of surprise and awe on people’s faces and the magic that happens during the musical performances. In 2015, Lorna was hired as a Center Stage assistant, primarily for our research projects and Pick a Pic. Her personal artistic interests are smooth jazz and music of the 40s, textile arts and dance.
LaDora Field
More About Me Program
email: lfield@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
LaDora Field joined Center Stage in 2018 to pilot the “More About Me” program, a humanistic endeavor, where she visits inpatients to shed light on their personal interests outside of the medical sphere so that caregivers gain a better insight to them as a whole individual rather than a medical chart. Her academic background is in psychology and literature. In her career training, she has focused on echocardiography and non-invasive cardiology. She has worked in Hershey, Lancaster, and Oxford, England. LaDora spends the balance of her time serving as a board member to several non-profits and organizing fundraising events including Association of Faculty and Friends at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
We are thankful for our volunteers who host musical performances and support our programs.
LouAnn Benedict
Sheila Deardorff