Joan Lucci
Joan is a creative talent with experience as a graphic artist, web designer, and screenwriter. While living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she did voiceover for radio, hosted a podcast, and collaborated on a coming-of-age feature screenplay. While living in the Boston area, Joan also hosted and co-produced a home improvement show that aired on community cable TV.
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She grew up in Lunenburg, Massachusetts--a rural town neighboring Leominster where Johnny Appleseed and the plastics industry were born.
Before moving west, Joan discovered the rich history of the region and learning of that brave and diverse group of Americans who participated in the underground railroad, and the abolitionist and suffragist movements. She drew inspiration from their stories, and In 2001, participated in a grassroots group to found Friends of Sholan Farms (FSF), a nonprofit organization that saved the last remaining apple orchard in the birthplace of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed). Joan served as FSF’s marketing director organizing events and training volunteers. She conceived and launched the inaugural "Scarecrows in the Orchard"--an annual event that remains one of FSF’s most successful fundraisers. During her tenure with Sholan Farms, Joan worked closely with the Leominster Historical Society. As a board member, she expanded their membership with programs focused on families, students, and seniors.
She organized several events including a long-running Civil War Exhibit that she conceived (designed and curated) and produced with a great team of volunteers. The exhibit featured stories, letters, clothing, and artifacts of war from families like the three Hazard brothers, an African-American family whose members served in a unit of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Col. Robert Gould Shaw. Shaw’s unit was the subject of the award winning film, Glory (1989).
Joan moved with her son to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2004, and then relocated further west to San Diego in 2019.
During her second year in San Diego, Joan began exploring Baja, California, Mexico. She fell in love with La Misión and was thrilled to get to know her neighbors, David and Alberto and their residence, Quinta Los Delfines, a cultural center and home to the La Misión Performing Arts Center (LMPAC).
After volunteering for the LMPAC and other notable organizations in Baja, Joan has become increasingly committed to her new community. In addition to her role on the LMPAC board of directors, she has served in a leadership role with the Eco Resource Center and the Baja chapters of Democrats Abroad and Vote From Abroad (VFA).
Joan credits LMPAC for a life-changing experience. In August 2023. (for the first time in her life) Joan performed live on their oceanside stage as Ronnette in LMPAC's production of Little Shop of Horrors. She remains active both onstage and as a student of the Miguel De Hoyos' Guitar Workshop. Joan is also a member of the LMPAC choir, ensemble, and acapella groups.