MILWAUKEE, WI.- The Milwaukee Art Museum’s senior director of development Karen Spahn was presented the Fourth Annual Arts Advocacy Award yesterday at the National Association of Counties Arts and Culture Commission Award Luncheon at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center.  The award is designed to salute an arts supporter who has made a difference in the arts community. In Spahn’s role as senior director of development at MAM, she oversees the design, development and implementation of broad-based fundraising efforts to support the Museum’s operations, collection growth, programs, capital and endowment needs.

Prior to joining MAM in May, Spahn served as program and development officer at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation for 11 years.  Her primary areas of responsibility were in Arts and Culture grantmaking, and in convening arts and cultural organizations around important topics and issues.  The Greater Milwaukee Foundation serves as administrator of the Milwaukee County Fund for the Arts, and Spahn provided staff support to the Cultural, Artistic and Musical Advisory Council (CAMPAC), making recommendations to the County Executive and County Board of Supervisors regarding distribution of funding.

She has maintained contact with elected officials as a strong advocate for the arts in Milwaukee County and the State of Wisconsin. Spahn has also continued her consulting business and currently serves as staff liaison to the City of Milwaukee Arts Board Public Art Committee.  She recently completed a 3-1/2 year contract with Milwaukee County where she assisted in creating the Milwaukee County Percent for Art Program and its guidelines.  Since 2000, 11 public art projects have been commissioned through this program, with Spahn providing oversight of the program, the selection process and project management.

Spahn speaks locally, regionally and nationally on the topics of fundraising, grantwriting, public art issues including controversy, process, and government funding for the arts.  She currently sits on the advisory council of the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts which makes the annual Governor’s Award in the Arts, and is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau.  She served on the State of Wisconsin Legislative Study Committee on the Arts which resulted in the creation of a state arts endowment.  She was a founding member of the Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts and served on the Community Arts Advisory Committee for the Midwest Express Center.  Spahn has been cited for her work in the arts by both the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County and the State of Wisconsin.

NACo

The National Association of Counties (NACo) was created in 1935 when county officials wanted to have a strong voice in the nation’s capital.  More than six decades later, NACo continues to ensure that the nation’s 3066 counties are heard and understood in the White House and the halls of Congress. NACo’s membership totals more than 2,000 counties, representing over 80 percent of the nation’s population.