MAKE ART HAPPEN
The Infinity Tunnel. Photo Credit: Cory Bluhm

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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The Region of Waterloo Arts Fund is managed by a 14 person board, representing a broad spectrum of involvement in the arts. It serves the three cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo and the four townships of Wilmot, Woolwich, North Dumfries and Wellesley that make up Waterloo Region.

 

Members of the board are elected; a director may serve a maximum of six years (up to two three-year terms consecutively), after which he/she must be off the board for a minimum of one year before being eligible for reappointment.

 Region of Waterloo

 

Board members volunteer their time and expertise, and reflect the diversity found in the arts community at large.

 

MEMBERSHIP

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DIRECTORS' BIOGRAPHIES

 

Lindsay Golds

Lindsay Golds has been working in the arts and culture sector for over ten years in various management roles. Currently Lindsay works at a Project Coordinator at Conestoga College. Lindsay received her BA in History from Acadia University and completed her MA in Museum Studies in the UK at the University of Leicester. Lindsay holds her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute.

 

Bill Chesney

Bill Chesney has worked in professional theatre as a set and costume designer and scenic artist for more than 30 years, and has designed sets and/or costumes for more than 200 productions. Recent work includes set and costume designs for Lighthouse Theatre Festival in Port Dover as well as a 25+ year creative association with the Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP) in Winnipeg. Highlights of his work with MTYP include “Comet in Moominland”, based on the children’s classic by renowned author/illustrator Tove Jansson, and “House at Pooh Corner”, an innovative and immersive presentation of the beloved children’s classic.

 

A master scenic artist, Bill was the Head Scenic Painter for the Pantages Theatre and touring Canadian productions of “The Phantom of the Opera”, and designed and executed an interior mural entitled “Change is Gradual” for the Guelph Community Health Centre. Bill is a retired faculty member in Theatre and Performance in the Communication Arts department, Faculty of Arts, University of Waterloo, and  also served as Associate Dean of Arts – Undergraduate Students, 2007 - 2019.

 

 Debbie Knepper

Debbie is a Waterloo resident who has worked at the University of Waterloo for 25 years. She has held multiple positions during her career that have gained her experience in management, administration, budgetary oversight, human resources, and event management. Debbie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo. Her educational background focused on Art History and the Visual Arts. In her spare time she enjoys painting portraits and abstract works. Debbie is an avid supporter of local artists, especially emerging artists, and regularly attends local art events. The Arts Fund board membership role merges her work experience in administration and financial background with her arts education, experiences, and interests.

 

 Adam Qualter

Adam Qualter was born and raised in Waterloo Region. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in History and Drama & Theatre Arts. Active in the performing arts for more than 40 years, Adam has worked at the Humanities Theatre, Lighthouse Festival Theatre, Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, Centre in the Square and Stratford Festival where he is currently the Head Stage Carpenter of the Festival Theatre. Over the years he has taught courses at Fanshawe College, and Wilfrid Laurier University, and mentored students enrolled in the high school Co-op program. Adam has an avid interest in arts fundraising and recently completed the Fund Development program at Conestoga College. In the community, he serves on the board of the Southwestern Ontario Film Alliance and IATSE local 357, and is a volunteer stage manager with the Kitchener Blues Festival.

 

Karen Redman

Karen Redman is the Regional Chair of the Waterloo Region, elected in October 2018, and has been dedicated to public service for more than 20 years. She has represented the community at several levels of government including federal, municipal and the board of education. She served on Regional Council as a representative for the City of Kitchener, and on the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund Board, from 2014 to 2018.

 

Karen has a Master's degree in Political Science, as well as an Honour's Bachelor's degree in English.

She was Chief Executive Officer at Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region from 2010 to 2018. In other community activities, Karen has served as Chair of the Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region, President of the Rotary Club of Kitchener 2014-2015 and as a Board Member of Martin Lutheran University College (formerly Waterloo Lutheran Seminary). She is the recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal.

 

Jax Rula

Jacqueline (Jax) Rula is an award winning fibre artist specializing in creating soft sculpted art dolls. Jax began making dolls in 2006 and became a member of the Canadian Doll Artist Association (CDAA) in 2007. She entered her first competition that year at the CDAA’s convention. The next year she was accepted in the Grand National Quilt Show hosted at the Centre in the Square in Kitchener, ON. Her first award came in 2009 at the next CDAA convention and, in 2013, she was the guest artist for the Quilt and Fibre Arts Festival. In 2014 Jax was awarded a Region of Waterloo Arts Fund grant for a project inspired by the Grand River Watershed; A Grand Fabrication: Truth, Tales and Art of a Heritage River. A Grand Fabrication has been shown in several locations including along side The Quilt of Belonging during the Peace by Piece festival at the Cotton Factory in Hamilton in celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial in 2017.

 

Jax has operated an art production company for the last 25 years, managed an art gallery, co-founded two not-for-profits, sat as chair for the Art District Gallery for three years, and is now Artistic Director of the Three Sisters Cultural Centre in St.Jacobs.

 

Susan Scott

Susan brings a rich, eclectic history to the literary arts. Her latest book, the edited collection Body & Soul (2019), reflects her passion, working with artists, activists, writers and poets on transformative projects that inspire real change. Susan is a founding member of Native-Immigrant, a Montreal-based collective that bridges Indigenous, settler and immigrant communities in the north and global south through collaborative arts and cultural engagement. She has taught at Renison, at St. Jerome’s, and at Wilfrid Laurier, and has guest lectured at the Yale Institute for Sacred Music.

 

A rural-urban hybrid who came to Waterloo as a student, Susan has since lived and worked in Toronto and Montreal, New England, the South, the Southwest, and high in the Southern Rockies. She followed an Honours BA and MA from Wilfrid Laurier University with doctoral work in anthropology, fine arts and religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh, and a certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers. After joining the board of Waterloo Region’s national literary magazine, The New Quarterly, in 2005, she went on to become lead nonfiction editor, associate director of the Wild Writers Festival, director of creative writing retreats and, in 2020, director of the Wild Writers Mentorship Program.

 

 Peter Shannon

As a life long resident of Waterloo, Peter's love of the Arts started at a young age with exposure to North America's oldest student film competition, the Charlie Awards.  Storytelling and filmmaking have been at the core of every step in Peter's career since.  Peter founded Memory Tree, a media production company in 1996.  Currently employing 25 artists, Memory Tree creates media stories for a wide variety of clients around the world.  They tell stories in many mediums: Video, Photography, Graphic design, Animation, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Podcasting.  

 

Peter served as Chairperson for Conestoga College's Media Program Advisory Committee from 2013-15, Membership Chair for Entrepreneurs Organization (Southwestern Ontario Chapter) 2015-17, and Memory Tree has been a major sponsor to countless cultural and arts events in Waterloo Region over the last 20 years.  

 

Carol Ann Treitz

Born in Listowel, Ontario, Carol Ann moved to K-W in 1968 and has spent her adult life either actively involved in or fervently supporting the Arts community. Having completed degrees in Vocal Performance (WLU) and Bachelor of Education (Western), she has sung in many choirs (both amateur & professional) throughout her life, including a 20+ year stint with the Elora Festival Singers.  In addition to her love for choral music, she has performed as a soloist in both classical, pops & musical theatre genres throughout North America, established and managed a 70-voice community choir, and adjudicated at music festivals across the province. Through her private voice studio and seasonal business (Waterloo County Carollers), she has remained connected to the community and the local arts scene.