LOS ANGELES, CA.- United States Artists (USA), the national artists’ grant making and advocacy organization, today announced the appointment of three cultural leaders to its board of directors. Rosalba Rolón of New York, NY—actor, director, writer, dramaturge, and USA Fontanals Fellow in 2008—was appointed on September 11. She joins Shawn M. Donnelley, president of the Chicago-based nonprofit consulting firm, Strategic Giving, and Steven H. Oliver, prominent Bay Area arts patron and philanthropist, who were elected to the board in recent months.

“Rosalba, Shawn, and Steve each bring with them invaluable knowledge and a great passion for USA’s mission to invest in outstanding American artists and illuminate their value to society,” said Susan V. Berresford, USA Board Chair and former president of the Ford Foundation. “Rosalba Rolón brings invaluable insight as a past recipient of a USA Fellowship and as the founder and artistic director of the award winning Pregones Theater in the Bronx. Shawn Donnelley contributes expertise from her work as a philanthropist, philanthropic consultant, and arts leader in Chicago. Steve Oliver’s deep experience with federal funding for the arts and his extensive service on many national arts organization boards make him an ideal member of the USA board.”

The three new members join a group of arts and philanthropic leaders on the USA Board of Directors. They include Susan Berresford, former president of the Ford Foundation (New York, NY); Mark Bradford, artist and USA Broad Fellow in 2006 (Los Angeles, CA); Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, international arts patron (Miami, FL); Katharine DeShaw, Executive Director, United States Artists (Los Angeles, CA); Michael R. Francis, executive vice president, marketing, Target Corporation (Minneapolis, MN); Samuel Hoi, president, Otis College of Art and Design (Los Angeles, CA); Diane Kaplan, president, Rasmuson Foundation (Anchorage, AK); Gabriella Morris, president, Prudential Foundation (Newark, NJ); Dr. Judith Rodin, president, Rockefeller Foundation (New York, NY); Todd Simon, senior vice president, Omaha Steaks (Omaha, NE); Christopher V. Walker, founder, Meridian Pacific Capital Partners (Los Angeles, CA); Gillian Wynn, arts patron (Santa Monica, CA); and Evan Ziporyn, musician and USA Walker Fellow in 2007 (Boston, MA).

“Since our founding, USA’s board has included a dynamic mix of philanthropists, arts professionals, and artists themselves,” said Katharine DeShaw, United States Artists executive director. “We are grateful for the insight and first-hand knowledge of our three newest board members and we welcome them with great enthusiasm.”

United States Artists was established in 2006 to provide direct support for artists working in all disciplines: architecture and design, crafts and traditional arts, dance, literature, media, music, theater arts, and visual arts. As an investment in the nation’s creativity, USA annually awards 50 unrestricted fellowships of $50,000 to artists from across the country in recognition of artistic excellence. On December 14, USA will announce the next 50 artists selected to receive $50,000 USA Fellowships for 2009 in a celebration at The Broad Stage at the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center—bringing USA’s total investment in individual artists since 2006 to $10 million dollars.

Rosalba Rolón
Named a USA Fontanals Fellow in 2008, Rosalba Rolón is a performer, director, and dramaturge who worked extensively with Latino theaters in New York City prior to founding Pregones Theater in 1979, where she serves as Artistic Director. Under her leadership Pregones Theater, based in the South Bronx, has built a distinct Latino musical theater repertory. Her work with the ensemble has been presented in more than 400 U.S. cities and 18 countries. Rolón is currently involved in an international collaboration involving companies in eight other countries, working to create an international virtual theater school. This collaboration includes the new production of Brides (2008), co-created with fellow actresses from the Slovak Republic and Belgium. Other recent credits include The Beep (2007) and The Red Rose (2006) for which she won various ACE and HOLA Awards. Her adapted works include The Wedding March, The Blackout and Promise of a Love Song in collaboration with Roadside Theater and Junebug Productions, and which was published by TCG in an anthology of ensemble theaters. Rolón is faculty and board member at the Leadership Institute of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and serves on the board of the Theater Communications Group.

Shawn M. Donnelley
Shawn Donnelley is the founder and president of Strategic Giving, a philanthropic consulting firm based in Chicago. She is the immediate past chairman of the board of the Goodman Theatre, and serves on the board of Loyola University New Orleans, the auxiliary board of the Art Institute of Chicago, the visiting committee of the University of Chicago Divinity School, and the boards of three private foundations. Today's Chicago Woman magazine named Ms. Donnelley one of 100 Women Making a Difference in Chicago and Crain’s Chicago Business named her one of 40 under 40 in Chicago in 2008. Additionally, Donnelley was recognized by Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network and received the Outstanding Individual Philanthropist award by the Treasure Coast Association of Fundraising Professionals. The former head of political affairs for R. R. Donnelley, the world's premier full-service provider of print and related services, Ms. Donnelley placed second in a field of 11 primary candidates running for nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. A veteran of numerous political campaigns, she hosted a television political talk show in Boston and has taught political communications at several colleges and universities. She received a B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans and an M.A. from Emerson College. A Florida native, Ms. Donnelley resides in Chicago and Cambridge, England.

Steven H. Oliver
Steven Oliver is President of the award-winning construction and development firm Oliver & Company, based in Richmond, CA, which has built over a thousand buildings in the Bay Area, including the California College of the Arts in Oakland, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. A well-known arts philanthropist, advocate, and civic leader in the Bay Area, Mr. Oliver is the former Chairman of the Board of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has also served as chairman of a division of the National Endowment for the Arts and on the boards of numerous arts organizations, including the California College of the Arts, the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Stuart Collection at the University of California, San Diego; and as national Co-chair for PAC-American Arts Alliance. He also chairs the Community Foundation of Sonoma County’s Arts Council Taskforce. Oliver and his wife, Nancy, are respected collectors of contemporary art. They display one of the nation’s most renowned private collections of site-specific art at their northern California home, Oliver Ranch. Mr. Oliver received a BS from the University of California, Berkeley, and an honorary doctorate from California College of the Arts in 1998.