The Salina Art Center welcomed five new members to the Board of Trustees at its annual meeting on July 17, 2019. The Board of Trustees is critical to guiding the Art Center’s mission to create exchanges among art, artists, and audiences that reveal life.

The new members include many familiar faces with a long history of active engagement with Salina Art Center. New Board members include Sydney Soderberg (President), Karen Black, Dee Warren, Connie Burket, and Laura Easterday. They join current members Eric Montoy (Vice President), Karla Prickett (Secretary), Gary Martens (Treasurer), James Bowden, and Melanie Young.

“Since the time we moved to Salina, the Art Center has been an important part of the life of our family.  My husband and I have both served on the Board, enjoy the Art Center Cinema, and are intellectually challenged by the art and artists. Our children and grandchildren have participated in Art Center programs. I’m excited about the possibilities that are ahead for the Art Center,” Sydney Soderberg, 2019-2020 Salina Art Center Board of Trustees President.

Soderberg announced the appointment of a Management Support Team to evaluate the needs of the Art Center following the resignation of executive director, Bill North. The Management Support Team includes Martha Rhea and Melanie Terrill, with additional assistance provided by Mike Soetaert. It is anticipated the Management Support Team, Board of Trustees, staff, and community will spend the next year strategizing what the next generation Art Center can be for the community and North Central Kansas.

“The commitment, leadership, and enthusiasm this group brings to the organization is exactly what the Art Center needs as we look to the exciting opportunities ahead,” said Misty Serene, director of institutional advancement at Salina Art Center. “Downtown redevelopment, the Smoky Hill River project, new businesses all around us; these are transitions we are embracing and can grow into.”

In addition to leadership from the Salina Art Center Board of Trustees, guidance and financial support is being offered through the Salina Art Center Endowment Foundation. Led by president Kristin Gunn, the Endowment Foundation stewards an endowed fund created to support the long term financial future of Salina Art Center, Art Center Cinema, and Art Center Warehouse Residency Program.

Salina Art Center is a nonprofit, contemporary art & education center accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The mission to create exchanges among art, artists, and audiences that reveal life is carried out daily through opportunities for community members to make connections between art and life through hands-on art makerspace, classes, exhibitions, films, demonstrations, interactions with artists, and lectures. For more information about what’s happening at the Art Center, to become a member, or to donate to the Art Center or Endowment Foundation visit www.salinaartcenter.org.

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Photo courtesy Salina Art Center Back Row: Melanie Young, Gary Martens, Melanie Terrill, Laura Easterday, Sydney Soderberg, Kristin Gunn, Karen Black, Martha Rhea, Connie Burket, and Karla Prickett. Front Row: Eric Montoy, Mike Soetaert, James Bowden, and Dee Warren.