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Hear how statewide leaders are pivoting and what you can do.
Tom DeCaigny, Executive Director, California Alliance for Arts Education
Sarah Weber, Executive Director, Association of California Symphony Orchestras
Pat Wayne, Program Director, CreateCA
Julie Baker, Executive Director, Californians for the Arts
Jason Schmelzer, Lobbyist, California Arts Advocates; Parter, Shaw, Yoder, Antwih, Lange, Schmelzer
Celeste DeWald, Executive Director, California Association of Museums
PANELISTS
Tom DeCaigny
Executive Director, California Alliance for Arts Education
Tom DeCaigny was appointed Executive Director of the California Alliance for Arts Education in January 2020. Most recently, DeCaigny was the Director of Cultural Affairs at the San Francisco Arts Commission, a $40 million city department that champions the arts as essential to daily life. During his eight years at the Arts Commission, DeCaigny turned around a struggling city agency, helped lead a successful ballot measure to increase hotel tax funding for the arts and arts education, set a responsive policy agenda that advanced space affordability and racial equity, and tripled grant funding for San Francisco’s arts sector.
Prior to his tenure at the San Francisco Arts Commission, DeCaigny spent nine years as Executive Director of the Performing Arts Workshop, a Bay Area nonprofit dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression and essential learning skills through the arts. He has held board leadership positions with a variety of national and international organizations including the U.S. Urban Arts Federation and World Cities Culture Forum as well as with the California Alliance for Arts Education and LYRIC, an LGBTQQI youth organization in San Francisco. Currently, DeCaigny serves as a trustee of the San Francisco Community Investment Fund which distributes over $35 million annually in New Market Tax Credits. He resides in the Excelsior neighborhood in San Francisco.
The California Alliance for Arts Education advocates for high-quality arts education for all students by providing policy expertise and by mobilizing a statewide network of advocates and allied partners. Founded in 1973, the Alliance is in its fifth decade of working to build a brighter future for our state by making the arts a core part of every child’s education. A statewide leader and convener, the Alliance galvanizes California’s educators and other experts in arts and culture to increase access to arts education and improve the quality of arts education.
Sarah Weber
Executive Director, Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ASCO)
Sarah has worked in the arts and culture sector for more than fifteen years and has focused on building organizational health in order to best execute mission-driven initiatives and serve diverse communities and audiences. With a background in museum education and operations, Sarah was previously hired by two major museums as a part of new leadership teams. At both the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix and the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles she created fully functioning education departments from the ground up. She also led the education department at the Los Angeles Conservancy, a historic preservation nonprofit, and has consulted for other nonprofits in the areas of fundraising, membership, and operations, including the Pasadena Symphony, the San Bernardino Museum Association, Festival Mozaic, and the Santa Monica Conservancy. Originally from Salt Lake City, Sarah holds a BA in history from the University of Utah and an MA in history and museum studies from Arizona State University. She completed a nine-month leadership fellowship in 2018 through the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Sarah is a violinist and has enjoyed playing in youth and community orchestras throughout her life.
About ACSO
The Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO) is the voice, the forum, and the network for California orchestras and ensembles, and its vision is that the classical music landscape of California and the region is vibrant, healthy, diverse, and connected to the communities it serves. Founded in 1969, ACSO is the largest state orchestra association in the U.S. and its members include orchestras (professional, youth, academic, and community), choruses, classical music presenters, symphony leagues and guilds, festivals, artist management firms, and individuals associated with orchestras or wishing to access our services. ACSO has approximately 130 organizational members throughout California and neighboring states and serves its 2,500+ board and staff. In addition to its annual conference, which attracts over 300 orchestra and nonprofit administrators each year, ACSO offers myriad services, programs, resources, and advocacy tools to its members in order to grow their professional capacity and to strengthen their artistic, organizational and fiscal development. ACSO also works to keep funders, stakeholders and lawmakers connected and informed about the impact these classical music ensembles make on their diverse communities. Sarah Weber Bio Sarah Weber was named the executive director of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO) on January 1, 2019, and has been with the association since 2016.
Julie Baker
Executive Director, Californians for the Arts
Julie Baker is a seasoned arts and marketing professional. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Californians For The Arts and California Arts Advocates in October of 2018, Julie Baker served on the board for four years as chair of the membership committee and of Confluence, an arts advocacy conference. She serves as the California State Captain to Americans for the Arts', National Arts Action Summit and is chair of the visibility committee for the State Arts Action Network. From 2009-2017, Julie Baker served as the Executive Director of The Center for the Arts, a non-profit performing arts venue and California WorldFest, an annual music and camping festival located in Grass Valley, CA.
Prior to moving to California, Baker worked in New York City at several prominent art galleries and the international auction house Christie’s before becoming the President of her family’s art marketing agency, Gerngross & Company Inc. In 1998, she moved with her family to Nevada City, CA where she was first employed as a Senior Executive Producer for Tristream, a 20- person web development and marketing/branding company. In 2001, she returned to her passion for the arts and opened Julie Baker Fine Art, a gallery of emerging artists. She was the co-founder of Flow art fair, a satellite art fair to Art Basel Miami Beach. She is active in her local community including serving on the high school Site Council and the board of California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project. She is the owner of Julie Baker Projects, a full-service arts consulting firm where projects have included talent buying for multiple performing arts centers, curating projects such as the Global Rhythms Series at the Crocker Art Museum and event planning for non-profit organizations.
Pat Wayne
Program Director, CreateCA
Pat Wayne has held the position of Program Director of CREATE CA, California’s Statewide Arts Education Coalition since 2015. CREATE CA works to ensure all students are able to reach their full potential by advancing an educational model that promotes innovation and creativity. Operating as a collective impact coalition, Pat works with five statewide partners to effect education systems change for arts education: California Department of Education, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA), California State PTA, California Arts Council and California Alliance for Arts Education. Prior to joining CREATE CA, Pat served as Deputy Director of Arts Orange County, the county-wide arts council. She has held the positions of Manager of Community Programs for the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Deputy Director of the Columbus Arts Council (Ohio), and Managing Director of MoMing Dance Center (Chicago) and Merrimack Regional Theatre (Boston). Pat has a teaching credential and a Master’s degree in Performing Arts Administration.
Jason Schmelzer
Legislative Arts Advocate
A legislative advocate with the firm since 2009, and a partner since 2016, Jason Schmelzer is a leading advocate in the areas of workers’ compensation insurance, environmental regulation, solid waste management, and arts funding, among his many areas of interest and expertise.
Prior to joining the firm, Jason served as a lobbyist for four years, most recently for the California Chamber of Commerce. His primary responsibilities at the California Chamber of Commerce included directing legislative advocacy for their more than 15,000 member companies on issues such as transportation, air quality, chemicals policy, workers’ compensation, and other lines of insurance.
Previously, Jason was the Legislative Director for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association. He served as the association’s voice in the legislature, governor’s office, and administrative agencies on issues including labor law, workers’ compensation insurance, and health care.
Jason spent five years working in the insurance industry prior to beginning his career as an advocate. In this role, he attained valuable hands-on experience working with private and public sector entities attempting to navigate California’s workers’ compensation system.
Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from California State University, Sacramento. He resides in Sacramento with his wife and two sons.
Celeste DeWald
Executive Director, California Association of Museums (CAM)
Celeste has over 25 years of experience working in the museum field. While pursuing her Bachelor's Degree in Art History at UC Santa Cruz, she was introduced to museum work when she assisted with the development of a mobile art museum that traveled to elementary schools. She became fascinated with the vibrant role museums can play in communities in learning about history, science, and the arts. She interned at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and the San Jose Museum of Art. Celeste's first [paid] job in the museum field was at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History where she had a hand in both administration and education programs and assisted with a merger between two organizations. She worked as the Director of Education and Public Programs at a start-up museum, the National Steinbeck Center, where she developed K-12 and public programs and cultivated partnerships with social service organizations in a predominately Latino community. Celeste has a Master's Degree in Museums Studies from John F. Kennedy University. She became Executive Director of CAM in May 2004 and has enjoyed being an advocate for museums and helping them become more relevant and effective organizations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Coalition of State Museum Associations, haven previously represented the museum field on the Board of Directors of CalNonprofits, the Steering Committee of the California Preservation Program and the California Alliance for Arts Education' Policy Council.