Madison, WI ─ Governor Tony Evers has reappointed eight board members, to serve three-year terms, to the Wisconsin Arts Board, the state agency which nurtures creativity, cultivates expression, promotes the arts, supports the arts in education, stimulates community and economic development and serves as a resource for people of every culture and heritage.
The reappointed board members are Marcela “Xela” Garcia, Milwaukee; Karen Ann Hoffman, Stevens Point; Susan Lipp, Madison; Tyler Marchant, Stevens Point; Dinorah Márquez Abadiano, Milwaukee; Lynn Richie, Land O’ Lakes; Jennifer Schwarzkopf, Fitchburg; and Matthew Wallock, Madison (see attached biographies).
The reappointed members join the continuing members of the Arts Board: Brian Kelsey, Fish Creek; Jayne Herring, Kenosha; John W. Johnson, Madison; Wiliam Mitchell, Lancaster; John H. Potter, Hudson; Mari Lindsay Schneider, Lancaster; and LaShawndra Vernon, Milwaukee.
“The arts not only make life more beautiful and enjoyable for Wisconsinites and visitors alike, they also strengthen our communities and local economies, improve our kids academic performance, nurture creativity, and bring people together across divides,” said Gov. Evers.
The Wisconsin Arts Board is governed by a fifteen-member board appointed by the Governor to serve three-year terms. Board members are Wisconsin citizens recognized for their accomplishments in the arts, humanities, business, education or public service. The board includes members from urban and rural areas across the state and from diverse racial, economic and cultural backgrounds. Board members set policy for the agency and approve funding recommendations made by the peer review panels. The members meet a minimum of four times per year, and all meetings are open to the public.
The Wisconsin Arts Board is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout Wisconsin. Since 1973, the Arts Board has supported artists and art organizations with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on the Wisconsin Arts Board, please visit artsboard.wisconsin.gov. For information on our 50th Anniversary, please visit https://wab50.com.
Reappointed Wisconsin Arts Board Members | Short Biographies
Marcela “Xela” Garcia
Milwaukee
Marcela “Xela” Garcia is a Xicana artist, innovator, and cultural warrior who currently serves as the Executive Director at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts in Milwaukee, WI. Elected to the Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Directors in 2021, she brings diverse experience in arts administration, education, and philanthropy. A double graduate from UW-Madison, she holds an MA in Business: Arts and Creative Enterprise Leadership, and a BA in English Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing & Chicanx/Latinx Studies. She was awarded Board Sources’ National Emerging Non-Profit Leader Award in 2012, recognized as one of Wisconsin’s Most Powerful Latinos in 2018, and selected to the 2020 class of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award and the 2020 Arts + Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship with Americans for the Arts. Xela currently serves as a mayoral appointee to the City of Milwaukee Arts Board, a Gubernatorial Appointee to the Wisconsin Arts Board, represents Wisconsin on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies board of directors and is a founding member of the art collective Raíces Revolucionarias.
Karen Ann Hoffman
Stevens Point
Karen Ann, citizen of the Oneida Nation, is a beadwork student of Samuel Thomas and Lorna Hill of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. She holds a Masters Degree in Human Development from the University of Wisconsin -Stevens Point. Her Thesis was “Iroquois Raised Beadwork as a Symbol of Cultural Identity. Karen Ann’s award-winning Beadwork has been displayed at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston, IL; the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum in Appleton, WI; the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, IN; and the Wisconsin History Museum in Madison, WI. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution -NMAI, the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and the State of Wisconsin. Karen Ann was a member of the Skanikwat Project, Nakuru, Kenya, Africa. The project, led by Samuel Thomas, used tribal beadwork as a medium to foster peace across languages, races, religions, and continents. Karen received a 2020 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, she is a 2022 United States Artist Fellow, and she is a recipient of a 2024 Fellows Award from the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.
Susan Lipp
Madison
Susan is the Chairman of the Board of Full Compass Systems, Ltd., a national leader in professional audio, professional video, A/V, lighting and musical instrument sales. Full Compass is one of the largest woman-owned businesses in the state of Wisconsin, with over 200 employees. In the early 1970s, Susan created the Wisconsin Community Theatre Association and served as Chairman of the Board for four years while also sitting on the Board of American Theatre Association as Governor of Region 3, representing five states. In the 1990s, she created the Board of Directors of the South Central Wisconsin Chapter of the American Diabetes Association and chaired that board for five years while also chairing the National Board of the Society of Non Profit Organizations. Susan presently sits on 9 boards (7 Arts related) and runs many fundraisers for non-profit organizations every year. She has been recognized by the UW School of Music development of the UW-Madison Jazz Program, by the Foundation for Madison Schools as a Distinguished Community Partner, and along with her husband, Jonathan, is an Overture Center for the Arts Local Legend. The Lipps have won a host of awards including the 2017 Musical Merchandise Review magazine’s Music Industries Lifetime achievement Award, the Madison Area Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the U.S. Small Business Administration SBA 100 Award, the Governor’s Trailblazer Award, the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Support Music.com Award, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Lifetime Achievement Award, and the NAWBO Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Tyler Marchant
Stevens Point
Tyler is a freelance Director/Playwright and Professor of Acting/Directing at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. In addition to his freelance work, Tyler previously served as the Associate Artistic Director at the multiple award-winning Off-Broadway theatre Primary Stages in NYC. Tyler directed the World Premiere of Freud’s Last Session at Barrington Stage Company before it made its commercial Off-Broadway transfer where it ran for nearly 800 performances and won “Best Play” by the Off-Broadway Theatre Alliance. The production toured to successful sit-downs in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Detroit. Other favorite productions include the World Premiere of the musical Anne of Green Gables at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in NYC; Drowned World at the Old Vic/New Voices; Constellations at Theatre Lila; ART at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre; and Outside Mullingar and Every Brilliant Thing at Forward Theatre. Tyler directed Reykjavik by Pulitzer Winner Richard Rhodes for the Ministers of the United Nations. The production starred Richard Easton and Jay O. Sanders and included a video address by Mikhail Gorbachev. Tyler is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC).
Dinorah Márquez Abadiano
Milwaukee
Dinorah Márquez Abadiano was born in Mexico City and moved to El Paso, TX at the age of 10, where she began her classical music training. Upon graduating from Northwestern University with a major in American Studies and a minor in International Studies from the University of Florence, Italy, she became Assistant Press Secretary for Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. She continued her musical activities and went on to receive a master’s degree in music from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and founded the Latino Arts Strings Program (LASP). Launched in 2002 at the United Community Center in Milwaukee, the LASP has become a model for music and heritage education. Over the years, the LASP has received: the Presidential “Coming Up Taller Award,” the “National After School Innovator’s Award,” and has been designated one of the “Best Communities for Music Education” in the country by the NAMM for the past eight years. Márquez has been recognized as: “Milwaukee Artist of the Year” by the Milwaukee Arts Board, “Music Teacher of the Year” by the Civic Music Association and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, “Educator of the Year” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and one of “Milwaukee’s 20 Most Creative People” by Milwaukee Magazine. She received Wisconsin’s “Martin Luther King Heritage Award,” and the “Eddy Award” given by the Wilson Center for the Performing arts to individuals who enhance the level of arts education in the Milwaukee area. In 2023 Milwaukee Magazine granted her the “Arts Advocate Betty Award” for helping to build and expand Milwaukee’s arts scene, and the UWM Alumni Association granted her the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Dinorah is an alumna of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture’s Leadership and Advocacy Institutes where she received training in arts advocacy. She feels honored to have been appointed to the Wisconsin Arts Board by Governor Evers and is happy to advocate for the arts ecosystem in our state. Dinorah sees music and heritage education as tools for advancement and social justice. She is humbled that so many have seen fit to recognize the value of this work. Mostly she feels blessed to work with the wonderful students, families, and team of the Latino Arts Strings Program.
Lynn Richie, Vice Chairperson
Land O’ Lakes
Founding member of Land O Lakes Arts/LOLA and the first Treasurer, Lynn has a diverse background. Lynn was one of the founding members of the Mercer WI Community Development Group and a member of the Iron County WI Development. She was the branch manager with Northern Highland State Bank until moving to Illinois where she was a small business owner. After moving back north she had a small business as a Personal Chef. Lynn often teaches culinary art classes at LOLA. Lynn was honored as Woman of the Year by the Kate Newcomb Business and Professional Women’s Organization of Minocqua, WI. She is a retired board member and Past Board President of LOLA. Lynn was the chair of the Wisconsin Arts Board’s 50 th Anniversary Celebration Task Force. She enjoys engaging in community development, the arts, reading, traveling, and, of course, cooking.
Jennifer Schwarzkopf
Fitchburg
Jennifer has been passionate about the visual, musical, and culinary arts since she was a child. She is a trained Chef focused on the culinary arts – creating experiences, introducing new flavors to diners, and sharing love via every creation. Her childhood in the American South coupled with her Chilean heritage together influence her palette and culinary style. Jennifer has served the greater Madison community in many capacities, including serving as Domestic Abuse Intervention Services’ (DAIS) Community Champion, an artist of one of 2018’s Bucky on Parade statues (Bucky de los Muertos), and serving on numerous boards including YWCA of Madison, Rape Crisis Center of Dane County, International Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and Junior League of Madison. Jennifer lives with her family in Fitchburg. She is honored to proudly serve at the pleasure of the Governor on the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Matthew Wallock
Madison
Matthew is a passionate ambassador of the arts and committed proponent of Wisconsin’s creative economy. He comes to the Wisconsin Arts Board with an insider perspective, having interned for the organization in 2003 while majoring in Arts Management at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Following his work with the Arts Board he earned a law degree at the University of Wisconsin Law School and currently works for the State of Wisconsin as the Deputy Director of Communicable Diseases. He is a collector of contemporary street art and enjoys spending time with his wife, Holly, two children, Liam and Aoife, and dogs, Forest and Fern.
