Hello, I’m Sheila! This September I started my graduate studies in the Bolz Center’s Master of Arts-Business: Arts and Creative Enterprise Leadership program.
My experiences within the art world started at the Wisconsin Union throughout my undergraduate years on the Wisconsin Union Directorate (W.U.D.) Art Committee. I was able to learn and develop leadership skills there as well as within the Center for Leadership and Involvement (C.F.L.I.) and their Leadership Certificate program. I am happy to say that I learned a lot about their leadership framework and was able to integrate it in my roles on the WUD Art Leadership team as Head of Installation and Head of Marketing. It was invigorating and rewarding to work toward making arts on campus accessible, assisting in supporting artists, and facilitating installations and exhibitions. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with my Bachelor of Fine Arts this past spring 2024.
I applied to the Bolz Center program because I felt that my undergraduate experiences could be built upon and improved with more business knowledge, understanding of nonprofit organizations and how they run, and the Applied Learning Placement. I am also hoping to practice the Wisconsin Idea throughout my time here by learning more about nonprofit organizations both inside and outside of the classroom.
In my Applied Learning Placement with Wisconsin Humanities, I am serving as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator. I have been developing and curating engaging and creative content for their social media platforms, editing written text, photo, and video content, as well as working with the communications director and staff to plan longer campaigns to increase the reach of the organization.
After I graduate, I hope to take my degree with me into Milwaukee or Chicago to help arts organizations and communities in any way that I can. I believe in the importance of human connection and its role in shaping communities into loving and inclusive spaces. I am overjoyed to have the opportunity this year to learn more about arts and cultural management, and soon make a difference in organizations and communities that I am passionate about.