EAC Mission Statement

The Edwardsville Arts Center (EAC) will establish and maintain an accessible visual arts center that will serve as the cornerstone of the visual arts and arts education programs for the greater Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area. The EAC will provide an opportunity for people of all ages to come together to broaden their knowledge base, understanding and appreciation for the visual arts and to experience local, national and international exhibitions. By advocating and supporting creative exchange between artists and the community, the EAC will enhance the cultural and economic vitality of the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area.

Edwardsville Arts Center - Officers and Directors

• Daniel Anderson – Director – President
• John Fruit – Director – Vice President
• Dionna Boner-Raedeke – Director – Secretary
• Kay Pile – Director – Treasurer
• Caroline Bottom Anderson – Director
• John Celuch – Director
• Faye Coffman – Director
• Jacqueline Dezort – Director
• Stephen Hartman – Director
• Donya Hengehold – Director
• Joan Lebkuecher – Director
• Mitch Meyers – Director
• Mary Margarita Pizzini – Director
• Patricia Schuetzenhofer – Director
• Nikki Vuagniaux – Director

Daniel Anderson – Director – President

Dan Anderson received his BS degree in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls and his MFA degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. A noted artist/educator, he headed the ceramic program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 1976 until August 2002, when he retired after 32 years of teaching. A frequent workshop presenter, Anderson has lectured and demonstrated at over 150 venues over the past three decades, including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School, Anderson Ranch, Peters Valley Craft Center, Watershed and Arrowmont School. A multiple grant/award recipient, he has received a NEA Artist Fellowship, twelve Illinois Arts Council grants (including six Artist Fellowships) and a Ford Foundation Grant. Major galleries represent Dan across the United States and his work is in numerous private and permanent collections. His “mounds’ anagama wood kiln is fired at his rural Edwardsville studio, Old Poag Road Clay & Glass, twice a year. He has been wood firing for over thirty years. Dan currently serves as Vice-President on the Board of Directors of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. The Archie Bray Foundation recently completed a successful $2.5 million capital campaign. Anderson formerly served on the boards of Craft Alliance and the Forum for Contemporary Art (now Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis) both in St. Louis, MO. Dan was the first visual artist to take part in Leadership St. Louis (now FOCUS).

John Fruit – Director – Vice President

John Fruit has been a board member of the Edwardsville Arts Center since 2002,and is currently serving as Chair of the Facilities Committee.  He is currently a Senior Vice President of FCB-Edwardsville Bank; his banking career spans over 35 years.  John has been actively involved in many community activities in the Edwardsville area over the years, including the Boy Scouts of America,United Way, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville,KETC-9 public television, and local Chamber of Commerces.  John is married to Carol M. Fruit; they reside in Edwardsville.

Dionna Boner-Raedeke – Director – Secretary

Dionna Raedeke was born and raised in Edwardsville,Illinois. Dionna graduated from Southern Illinois University,Edwardsville in 1999 with a BFA in Ceramics and Printmaking. Co-Founder of ART E.A.S.T. (Edwardsville Alton Studio Tour) and the Edwardsville Arts Center, Raedeke has been instrumental in bringing art appreciation to the surface in the Metro East. After working for four years as the materials and research specialist for St. Louis design company, Kiku Obata & Company, Raedeke decided to leave the design field to continue making art at her home studio. Dionna and her husband, Daniel have converted an old South City bakery into living/studio space, and just welcomed their first child, Gramm in April of '05.

Kay Pile – Director – Treasurer

At age twenty Kay dragged her husband to the Louvre, the Tate and the Rijksmuseum. They've been enjoying and debating art ever since.

An Edwardsville resident since 1972, Kay has served as director of the Madison County Law Library since 1994 and the Madison County Bar Association since 1999. She served on the board of Lewis & Clark Library System for six years and SIUE Friends of Art for seven years.

Caroline Bottom Anderson – Director

Caroline Bottom Anderson grew up in Alton Illinois. She received her BFA degree in ceramics from the University of Tulsa in 1970 and subsequently earned an MFA in Art Studio from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1976. She is essentially a self-taught glass blowing artist. Caroline built and has been operating her 1,000 square foot hot glass studio, Old Poag Road Clay & Glass in rural Edwardsville, Illinois since1990. She has received numerous awards including Best of Show awards in the 46th Annual Quad-States Juried Art Exhibition at the Quincy (IL) Art Center, the "Art on the Square" Art Fair in Belleville, Illinois and the St. Louis Art Fair in Clayton, Missouri. In 2001 she received an Illinois Art Council Artist Fellowship. She exhibits her work in several galleries across the United States and has work in the permanent collection of the Mitchell Museum in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, Evansville Museum of Arts & Sciences in Evansville, Indiana and at the University Museum at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Her recent work has combined forged and fabricated steel with her hand blown glass.

John Celuch – Director

Inlandesign is nearing its 30th year in business as a strategy/design company in the St. Louis region. Our first major project was ArchiVan, Illinois’ Celebration of Architecture for the nation’s bicentennial. ArchiVan informed thousands of citizens about the architectural heritage of Illinois. The nearly yearlong event was managed by the Illinois Arts Council. Planning and design began in 1975 and the ArchiVan exhibits were fabricated and installed under the direction of John Celuch. This also included graphic design work and exhibits for ArchiCenter, the highly successful permanent component of the project, which continues to be the architectural tourist center in downtown Chicago.

For over 29+ years, John Celuch has created graphic design, identity and branding, marketing communications and exhibition design for national, regional and local events, festivals, corporations and organizations. Some of these clients include:

• Illinois and Missouri Humanities Commissions
• National Park Service
• VP Fair Foundation
• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
• University of Missouri-St. Louis
•  A.G. Edwards
• Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center Interpretive Center
• Fort Des Chartres Historic Site
• The Bank of Edwardsville
• Festival 66 (Rt. 66 Festival) Edwardsville
• The Prairie State Games
• Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
• Spring Green Lodge & Conference Center
• Edwardsville YMCA
• Carnegies Cafe & Books, Edwardsville Public Library
• Cahokia Mounds
• Campbell House Museum
• Children’s Hospital

The work of Inlandesign and its design staff has been featured in national design publications and books. Inlandesign has won the prestigious Illinois Governor’s Tourism award nearly a dozen times since 1990. Current projects include a permanent history exhibit installation at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, branding and marketing communications for Home Nursery and a donor wall for the Campbell House Museum in St. Louis. In addition to creating all the graphic design for a successful $5 million dollar fundraising campaign for the Edwardsville YMCA, Inlandesign created all of the exterior and interior permanent signage for the new $10 million facility.

Faye Coffman – Director

Faye Coffman is a retired educator who now serves as Vice-President of Ready Mix Service, a family run concrete business. As an educator for 33 years, Faye served in various teaching capacities as well as central office administration within Edwardsville School District No. 7. Faye and her husband, Chuck, are lifelong members of the Edwardsville community and are both strong advocates for community not-for-profit organizations, especially the arts. Both of their adult daughters deserve the credit for bringing an awareness for the arts to their mom and dad.

Jacqueline Dezort – Director

Jacquelyn L. Dezort retired from Bank of America after a thirty year career that included auditing, treasury management, financial planning, private banking, investment banking and strategic planning. She is also an entrepreneur working with her sisters in a retail store and art gallery – Bead It; and a founding partner in a nutrition business based upon the study of aging and weight loss – Smooth Energy Nutritionals.

She is active in several charities and is on the boards of The National Multiple
Sclerosis Society Gateway Chapter, Cardinal Glennon Hospital, KETC Channel 9, and the advisory council for the University Of Illinois College Of Commerce. She is in her first year with the Edwardsville Arts Center.

Stephen Hartman – Director

Steve Hartman is founder and principal designer of Creativille, Inc., a corporate communications design firm in Edwardsville, Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri. Hartman has spent his 13-year career designing brand and print solutions for a national list of Fortune 1000 companies, institutions and non-profit organizations.

Hartman’s work has been recognized by many award competitions and publications, including Communication Arts, Graphis, Dynamic Graphics, HOW Magazine, Graphic Design USA, Print Magazine, a number of published books, and his mother's refrigerator.

Steve has taught design at Maryville University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Washington University and Webster University in St. Louis. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois; and he survived the first AIGA/Harvard Business School Executive Training program: Business Perspectives for Designers.

Steve Hartman sits on the National Board of Directors of AIGA, The Professional Association for Design. AIGA has been large focus for Hartman. He most recently served as Development Director for AIGA St. Louis, and has served as Vice-President and President.

Donya Hengehold – Director

Donya Hengehold launched DH Communications (DHC), a corporate communications firm, in April 2005. DHC develops integrated communications plans; implements media relations programs; writes case studies, by-lined articles and marketing copy; and provides strategic communications counsel for clients nationwide.

Joan Lebkuecher – Director

Joan Lebkuecher is a native of the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon community, where she resides with her two young children. She is Controller/Assistant Vice President at Hortica (Florists’ Mutual Insurance Company) in Edwardsville, Illinois, where she has worked since 1991. Joan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accountancy and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree. A licensed certified public accountant in Illinois, Joan is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society. She has also attained several insurance industry designations, including Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter. Having a keen interest in community service and assisting non-profit organizations, Joan is an officer of the Goshen Rotary Club and is in line for the presidency in 2007/2008. She is a director on the Eden Village Retirement Community Board and is Chairman of the Regional American Cancer Society Board of Directors, serving 5 Illinois counties. Joan assists on the allocations committee of the local United Way chapter. She is a Rotary Paul Harris Award recipient and was previously nominated for a community service award from the local Junior Service club in her community. Her passions include art, books, volunteer work, poetry, writing, and traveling.

Mitch Meyers – Director

After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Finance, and working several jobs in the financial area, Mitch quickly realized her talent and desire were in the Marketing arena.

She began at the 7-Up Company working her way from New Products to Brand Management and after several years was recruited by Anheuser-Busch to launch a new product, Bud-Light. In this capacity, she and the Brand Director successfully introduced the product into North America and put it well on its way to the number one light beer in the country. She then became Director of Marketing for a new beverage division at AB and developed or acquired 6 different beverages to put into the AB system.

Her keen understanding of marketing and her eagerness to confront and resolve problems enabled her to rise quickly to become one of the highest ranking women in Corporate Marketing at AB. That achievement earned her the AdWeek Woman of the Year honor in 1987.

In 1989 Mitch was ready to use her talents in her own company and joined forces with a Creative Director and formed the Zipatoni Company.

She and her partner grew the agency from a small, respected boutique to over 350 employees with offices in 5 cities and billings exceeding $40 million annually, They were acquired by the Interpublic Group in 1999.

Since 2003, Mitch has been spending more time with her husband and kids, and volunteering at schools and on many charitable boards.

Mary Margarita Pizzini – Director

Mary Pizzini is an Edwardsville artist who has been creating both 2D & 3D art forms for 31 years. She received her BFA in art from Washington University in St. Louis, MO and completed her MFA in art studio at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). Mary and her husband Glen have been married for 50 years and they have five adult sons. She operates her own professional art studio on South Buchanan Street in downtown Edwardsville. Mary is active in community organizations including a lifetime member in the Friends of Art at SIUE, the St. Louis Artist Guild, the Madison County Arts Council and SIDivers.

Patricia Schuetzenhofer – Director

Pat Schuetzenhofer received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Art Education from SIUE and taught elementary art and sixth grade in Edwardsville School District #7. During her career as an educator, she developed curriculum integrating visual art into the core subjects through a state grant and frequently presented workshops for art educators in Madison County. Pat was named a finalist for Illinois State Teacher of the Year, and was active in planning and program development for the “Very Special Arts Festival” program for handicapped students at the local and state levels, in addition to serving as an Illinois delegate to the national festival in Washington D.C.

As local business owners of Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors, Pat and her husband, Gerry, are active in the community. Pat has worked in fundraising for special events for the local Chamber of Commerce and the SIUE School of Business, and is a member of the Meridian Society of the SIUE Foundation. She currently sells real estate and works in management of the relocation department of the company. The Schuetzenhofers reside in Edwardsville with their two children.

310 Hillsboro St., Edwardsville IL 62025 • 618.655.0337 • edwartscenter@att.net