Pasadena Arts Council Announces the Appointment of Five New Members to its Board of Trustees

Joining the Board of Trustees are Richard Haluschak, Dana Sadava, Denise Therieau, Joyce Wedseltoft, and Susan Woolley. “PAC has an ambitious agenda for 2017 and we are thrilled to welcome 5 new Trustees to the Board,” states Board President Nancy Hytone Leb. “We’re honored to have such a talented, diverse group of individuals and quite confident that our growing Board can provide the necessary leadership and support to assist PAC in achieving its goals for 2017 and beyond.”

Richard Haluschak is the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer for ArtCenter College of Design, where he has been instrumental in establishing and implementing institutional strategic and financial planning, and works closely with the College’s educational leadership to develop strategic plans for educational initiatives. Mr. Haluschak has been involved with all ArtCenter capital projects, including the development of the South Campus and plans for student housing. Mr. Haluschak serves on several other governing boards including Pasadena Federal Credit Union and SOPHIE Trust.

Southern California native Dana Sadava is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Pasadena Opera. Ms. Sadava made her conducting debut at Opera San Jose with Lucia di Lammermoor and Barber of Seville. She recently conducted the world premiere of Steve Lewis’ Noon at Dusk at the University of California, San Diego and served on the faculty of the Napa Music Festival. She has been a conductor and vocal coach at Wexford Festival Opera, Banff Opera as Theatre, Pensacola Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Comic Opera Guild, and the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute. Her work has been profiled on NPR (“State of the Arts”), Pasadena Magazine, Pasadena Star News, San Jose Mercury News, and others.

Denise Therieau is a partner with the real estate firm, Deasy/Penner & Partners, a local firm that focuses on selling architectural, historic and luxury properties. She has been selling real estate in the Pasadena area for the last 12 years. Prior to this, she worked as a fundraiser at the San Diego Museum of Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and in the School of Architecture at USC. Denise lives in San Gabriel with her two young children.

Joyce Wedesltoft brings her 40+ year career in Information Technology project management, business systems strategies, solutions and implementations to the organization. Joyce has held leadership positions in various non-profits including President of her homeowners’ association board, President of the Instrumental Music Club at Pasadena High school, Trustee for the Pasadena Day Nursery, and various committee work at her church. She has been a proud advocate for public education in Pasadena.

Susan Woolley has practiced law for almost thirty years. Susan has served as an expert and consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and Fortune 500 Companies. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed her to the County Equity Oversight Panel which reviews and evaluates workplace investigations conducted countywide. Susan graduated from the Stanford Law School and clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Susan is an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School, where she teaches Fact Investigation. She served on the Boards of the Association of Workplace Investigators, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation, and several parent-teacher organizations.

About Pasadena Arts Council

Pasadena Arts Council is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that provides resources, programs and services to artists and arts organizations. The agency offers an independent voice for promoting a vibrant cultural community by facilitating, empowering and advocating for the arts.

For over a decade PAC has supported artists through its acclaimed EMERGE program, offering mentorship and administrative services to hundreds of artists and independent arts organizations. PAC produces the AxS Festival, a citywide celebration of art and science featuring exhibitions, performances, educational activities and a Conversation Series which honors and reflects on the allied importance of both the arts and the sciences to the dynamic tenor of our time. PAC recently launched the AxS Incubator residency program, and over the next year will present challenging new projects by artists working at several of Pasadena’s renown scientific research institutions, including Caltech, NASA/JPL, and the Huntington.

Please e-mail admin@pasadenaartscouncil.org or call (626) 793-8171 for more information.