Board of Directors

The Mid-America Arts Alliance Board of Directors includes representatives from each of our states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Arkansas

Ed Clifford
CEO, The Jones Trust
Bentonville

Representative Denise Garner
Founder, Board Chair, Feed Communities
Fayetteville

John Gaudin
President, Argenta Wealth Management
North Little Rock

Garbo Hearne
Owner, Hearne Fine Art
Little Rock

Antzee Magruder
Council Member, Arkansas Arts Council
West Memphis

Patrick Ralston
Executive Director, Arkansas Arts Council
Little Rock

Melissa Thoma
Secretary, M-AAA
Principal, Thoma Thoma
Little Rock

Kansas

Stacey Dillon
Civic Leader
Lawrence

Jane M. Gates
Executive Director, Stiefel Theatre
Salina

Joan Horan
Civic Leader
Leawood

Larry Meeker
Chair, Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission
Lake Quivira

Daniel Sabatini
Sabatini Architects Inc.
Lawrence

Kate VanSteenhuyse
Interim Director, Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission
Wichita

Missouri

Sharon Beshore
Chair, Missouri Arts Council
Joplin

Michael Donovan
Treasurer, M-AAA
Executive Director, Missouri Arts Council
St. Louis

Mayor Sly James
Co-Founder, Wickham James Strategies & Solutions
Kansas City

Monique, Johnston, Ph.D
Executive Director, Youth Ambassadors
Kansas City

Nola Ruth
Civic Leader
Columbia

Nebraska

J. Robert Duncan
Chairman Emeritus, Duncan Aviation
Lincoln

Shari Hofschire
Chair, Nebraska Arts Council
Omaha

Ruth H. Keene
Civic Leader
Omaha

Rhonda Seacrest
Civic Leader
Lincoln

Todd Simon
Sr. Vice President, Omaha Steaks
Omaha

Richard J. Vierk
Past-Chair, M-AAA
Managing Partner, Vierk & Associates, LLC
Lincoln

Suzanne Wise
Executive Director, Nebraska Arts Council
Omaha

Oklahoma

Billie Barnett
Civic Leader
Tulsa

Lona Barrick
Executive Officer, Cultural Tourism, Department of Communications and Community Development, The Chickasaw Nation
Ada

Kendric Fergeson
President, NBC Oklahoma
Altus

Linda S. Frazier
Civic Leader
Tulsa

Holbrook Lawson, At-large member
Chair, M-AAA
Holbrook Campbell Lawson, LLC
Tulsa

Charles Moore
Chair, Oklahoma Arts Council
Muskogee

Amber Sharples
Vice Chairperson, M-AAA
Executive Director, Oklahoma Arts Council
Oklahoma City

Kym Koch Thompson
Principal, Koch Communications
Oklahoma City

Texas

Dale Brock
Chair, Texas Commission on the Arts
Owner, Visiting Angels
Fort Worth

Dr. Gary Gibbs
Executive Director, Texas Commission on the Arts
Austin

Linda Hatchel
Civic Leader
Waco

Maria May
Senior Vice President, Resnicow and Associates
Dallas

Gregory Perrin
Playwright & Associate Vice-President, St. Edward’s University
Austin

Mike Rome
Senior Partner, Allen Austin
Houston

Ex Officio

Todd Stein
President and Chief Executive Officer, M-AAA
Kansas City, MO

Emeritus

John Paul Batiste
Civic Leader
Dallas, TX

Carolyn Dillon
Artist
Hutchinson, KS

Lillie Fontenot
Consultant, Accent Management/Chesterfield Engineering
Houston

Ann Garvey
Civic Leader
Wichita, KS

Kay Goebel, PhD
Psychologist
Oklahoma City, OK

Donald A. Johnston
Executive (ret.), INTRUST Bank
Lawrence, KS

Dorothy Morris
President, Morris Foundation
Hot Springs, AR

Betty Price
Civic Leader
Oklahoma City, OK

Judith Sabatini
Photographer
Topeka, KS

Art Thompson
President, Cooper Foundation
Lincoln, NE

James R. Tolbert, III
Chairman, First Oklahoma Corporation
Oklahoma City, OK