Governor Strickland Appoints New Ohio Arts Council Board Members
by Jaclyn Reynolds

Governor Ted Strickland has announced the appointments of Charles McWeeny of Athens, Louisa Celebrezze of Columbus, Steven Allen of New Albany and Karen Bell of Columbus to the Ohio Arts Council Board. McWeeny will serve a term ending July 1, 2012, replacing Lois Rosenthal, who resigned. Celebreeze, Allen and Bell will serve terms ending July 1, 2013, replacing Barbara Robinson of Cleveland, Mary Wolfe of Perrysburg and Martha MacDonell of Lima, whose terms expired.

“We are delighted to have appointees who possess life-long commitments and connections to both their community and the arts,” said Julie Henahan, Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Council. “Each appointee’s experience and background will be a great asset to our board.”

Charles McWeeny is the dean of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University and an accomplished ceramic artist. A professor at Ohio University for 25 years, McWeeny teaches courses in Ceramics and for the last eight years has taught graduate students exclusively. McWeeny holds a B.A. from Cleveland State University in visual art and a M.F.A from the University of Oklahoma, Norman in ceramic design.

Louisa Celebrezze is a licensed social worker and currently serves as a pastoral associate at St. Catherine Parish in Columbus and as a counselor at Sawmill Family Counseling Services. She is a board member of Friends of Early Music and the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus. Celebrezze holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a M.S. in social administration from Case Western Reserve University.

Steven Allen is the C.E.O of Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a professor at The Ohio State University in the department of anesthesiology. He serves on the board of the YMCA of Central Ohio and has been a board member of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and on the advisory board of Alley Theater. Allen holds a M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Karen Bell is the first associate vice president for arts outreach at The Ohio State University’s College of the Arts. Bell, a professor at The Ohio State University since 1980, was the former dean of the College of the Arts at The Ohio State University. She is a member of the 2012 Arts & Culture Focus Group, served on the Planning Committee for Metropolitan Libraries 100th year celebration, as a consultant for the Columbus Downtown Revitalization Initiative and is a past board member of the Columbus Museum of Art and BalletMet. Bell holds a B.A. from S.U.N.Y. Potsdam and a M.F.A. in dance from Sarah Lawrence College where she was the recipient of the Bessie Schonberg Dance Scholarship.

The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

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