Staff

Christina Martin-Wright

Executive Director

Christina holds an M.F.A. in directing and dramaturgy from the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and an undergraduate degree in Performance. She is one of the founders of Madison’s StageQ Theatre and has been an active member of the arts community for over two decades. Christina has nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and external relations experience with some of the area's most vibrant organizations and events, including the Wisconsin Film Festival, Children’s Theater of Madison, and Madison Children’s Museum. Christina is also a member of the Friends Board at UW—Madison Waisman Center and sits on the Wisconsin Arts Board Accessibility Committee and the Leadership Team of Any Given Child Madison, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts.

Christina has been with AFA since 2018.

Peter Bovenmyer

Art Director

Peter holds a PhD in art history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an undergraduate degree in Art and Design from Iowa State University. He has authored several art historical publications and is the recipient of fellowships from the American Academy in Rome and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Following his studies, Peter worked for an art firm in Chicago before joining AFA as Art Director in 2021. He is passionate about increasing visibility for artists with disabilities and expanding accessibility to the art market.

Peter has been with AFA since 2021.

Mike Lawler

Director of Development & Storytelling

Mike earned a B.S. in Theatre Arts and Anthropology from Western Oregon University, and has spent most of his working life in the performing arts. He is also a published author, former staff writer for TYA Today, and freelance writer, focusing on stories and articles about the arts advancing the way artists think about and execute their work. He has led and/or founded multiple arts organizations, including Arden Theatre in Salem, Oregon, Wisconsin Story Project, and Theatre LILA in Madison, Wisconsin.

Mike has been with AFA since 2019.

Matthew Sanborn

Program Associate

Matthew graduated from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls with a B.A. in fine arts concentrating on ceramics and photography. He has worked as an art mover, a blacksmith, a cook, and in Madison as a para transit driver for over ten years. Throughout his life Matthew has been involved in the arts, be it drawing and painting, theater (both on stage and backstage), and dance – but especially in music. He has given the occasional beginning guitar lesson and not only writes and records his own music but has recorded and produced albums for several other artists. Since 2014 Matthew has made the trailer soundtrack for the Wisconsin Film Festival.

Matthew has been with AFA since 2021.

Debra Scheibinger

Operations Manager

Debra graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a B.S. in Art Education. After starting her own media design business, VertuArts, she became a product designer at American Girl, and spent three years designing dolls, accessories, and furniture, including the historical doll, Kit Kittredge. More recently, she was the marketing specialist and educational program manager at Eugster’s Petting Farm in Stoughton.

Debra has been with AFA since 2016.

Terry Kerr

Choir Coordinator and Teaching Artist

Terry is an actress and director, and a teaching artist for Overture Center for the Arts, Disney Musicals in Schools, and ARTS for ALL Wisconsin. She has taught theatre skills to students from elementary schools to Master of Architecture Students at the School for Architecture at Taliesin. A member of the inaugural acting company at American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin, she performed with the company for twelve seasons in works by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen, Moliere, and Marlow. She has directed traditional plays and created original devised works. Terry is the Volunteer and Venue Coordinator for the Wisconsin Film Festival, and the lead programmer for Big Screens, Little Folks, the Film Festival’s children’s programs.

Jennie Mulliins

Adult Arts Education Coordinator and Teaching Artist

Jennie is a print and textile artist based in Madison, Wisconsin. She holds a B.A in Geography from UW Madison and an associate degree from Madison College in Graphic Design and Illustration. A longtime artist mentor and teacher in the area, Jennie most loves to share her knowledge of print, paper, and textile work with other students of art. Her personal artwork centers around placemaking, community and the passage of time, most often culminating in printed paper sculptural works and printed quilts.

Grace Ruo

Program Associate

Kenyan by way of St. Louis, Grace (she/they) is a writer who uses her words as a vehicle for truth. She is the 2021 St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate, and her work has been featured in the Youth Speaks anthology Between My Body and the Air, as well as in the 2020 National Book Festival presented by the Library of Congress. Ruo's work weaves family stories into narrative poems of her experiences in America, often in relation to race, ethnicity, gender, and justice. Ruo is currently a First Wave scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and plans on becoming a psychiatrist.

Jessi Salgado

Veterans Arts Coordinator and Teaching Artist

Mike Scheibinger

School & Community Arts Coordinator and Teaching Artist

Mike is a certified learning disabilities teacher with over a decade of experience working with K-12 students in the public school setting. He is an accomplished teacher, musician, music producer, and program manager. As a producer, Mike has worked with many top artists, including Mick Fleetwood, Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), and star producer Bill Laswell.

Susan Harrison

Teaching Artist

Susan holds a BA in Art History from the University of California - Santa Barbara and is a life-long lover of the arts. She jumped for joy when she recently retired from her software development career and began to focus on art-making and teaching. Susan thrives when working in 3D, whether it be upcycled assemblages or papier-mâché sculpture or clay. She is also a colorist who enjoys the fluidity of watercolors and the spontaneity of collage. Susan has worked with AFA for nearly ten years, equally comfortable volunteering and teaching. Susan lives in Stoughton with her husband, two dogs and two cats. 

Jim Turk

Teaching Artist

Jim Turk holds a Master's degree in Biotechnology and has a wealth of knowledge in the field. He has also applied his expertise as the former Director of Biosafety at UW-Madison. In addition to his professional background, Jim is a musician and former drum teacher. He has used his musical skills to lead drum circles for assisted living and memory care facilities, bringing joy and connection to people of all abilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jim started the "twelve o'clock shakedown," a daily music and movement program on Facebook and Zoom. Although he has since stopped hosting the program, others have taken up the mantle and continue to offer it to the community. Jim is also an active member of the Wisconsin Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, serving as the Chair of the Government Relations Advisory Committee and the Walk MS Madison event. He was named the Wisconsin MS Society Activist of the Year in 2019. In addition to his role as a grant reviewer for the MS Society, Jim is also a member of the disability vote coalition and a frequent speaker, writer, and interviewee on issues affecting those with disabilities. As a drum circle facilitator for AFA and assisted living and memory care facilities, Jim uses his musical talents to bring joy and connection to people of all abilities. He is also a writer and advocate for positivity and its relationship to health and productivity.

Anne Vanderbloemen

Choir Director - Madison

Anne is a veteran middle and high school band teacher with the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District.  She has directed the AFA Madison Choir since 2017. She has a BA in Music Education from UW-Madison and a Masters degree in Conducting from Sam Houston State University. Anne has been playing clarinet with the Madison Wind Ensemble since 1998 and singing all her life.

Junko Yamauchi

Teaching Artist

Shauna Eilts

Choir Director - Eau Claire

Shauna is an elementary music teacher in Eau Claire and formerly the director of the adaptive show choir Hearts in Harmony. She also has experience teaching adaptive music at the high school level.

Christy Grace

Teaching Artist

Christy has been making art her whole life but made it her focus and career after graduating with an Associates Degree in Graphic Design from Madison College. In addition to her work with ARTS for ALL Wisconsin, Christy is a professional fine artist, art-jewelry maker, and children's book illustrator. She averages about two art local art markets and shows a month while creating new work. Christy also strives to connect with and advocate for those living with invisible illnesses, physical or emotional, by creating art that communicates what can't always be seen or said.

Deb Neuman

Teaching Artist

Deb has worked for AFA since 1994 and is an educator with a BS in Music Therapy from UW-Eau Claire. She has held many positions with AFA, including as the founder and Choir Director of our Menomoie Choir, and the Western District Director.

Carolyn Schwartz

Teaching Artist

Carolyn  is a certified Music Together (R) Teacher and a Madison Area Music Association (MAMA) Award-winning jazz singer. Originally from Mamaroneck, New York, she has been making music and making people smile for over 20 years. This is her third residency with ARTS for ALL leading music and movement in Head Start programs in Madison. In addition to her work with ARTS for ALL Wisconsin, Carolynn is a graphic artist, and the Special Events & Development Associate at United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Dane County.

Beth Turner

Teaching Artist

Beth is an Emmy-award winning television journalist who loves words and the power they carry to encourage, empower and equip people. She is a professional expressive writing facilitator and healing storyteller who hosts workshops, retreats, conferences because she sees over and over the transformative power of words. “I help provide platforms and expressions for those who don't typically have a voice or are unsure sometimes of the one they do have. It is life-giving work for all.” Beth is an author, published poet, wife, and mom to three boys, a large black lab, a rabbit named Esther, and a few wayward backyard chickens.