The NCI ARTworks Board announces the retirement of executive director
Julia Mautino Messina and welcomes new leadership
The NCI ARTworks Board announces the retirement of executive director Julia Mautino Messina and welcomes new leadership
Julia Messina has been leading the creative team at NCI ARTworks since 2021. Over the past five years, she and the dedicated Board and staff have:
Sara O’Dell has been selected to lead NCI ARTworks as the Executive Director, continuing to grow and improve this important regional nonprofit that hosts art exhibitions, music events, and facilitates the creation of public art installations in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam counties.
Sara brings a wealth of community volunteer experience to her position as the NCI ARTworks Executive Director. A longtime advocate for the arts, Sara’s focus has been primarily on the music component of the NCI ARTworks mission, assisting at NCI ARTworks-sponsored music events. She is expanding her artistic repertoire to include the visual arts as she has been helping to curate and organize art exhibits at the NCI ARTworks gallery in Peru.
Sara attended Michigan State University and Southern Illinois University. After moving to the Illinois Valley in 2007, she has led the STEM program at a local summer day camp since 2017, where she shares her expertise in science and technology. Outside of her professional work, she is an avid traveler and outdoor enthusiast. Sara notes that, “I am delighted to keep the NCI Artworks mission moving forward bringing the arts to everyone in our community and showcasing our very talented artists.”
According to former NCI ARTworks Executive Director, Julia Mautino Messina, “I am confident that NCI Artworks is destined to continue to flourish under new, talented leadership and guided by a board that cares deeply about our mission to build community through art.”
NCI ARTworks is a regional arts agency, a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and expanding the arts community in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties through artistic collaboration, educational outreach, and art space development. Its mission also is to create venues which support public and private education, community events, economic development, and cultural tourism. NCI ARTworks is located in the Westclox ARTworks Center in the west wing of the Westclox building in Peru. The organization is supported, in part, by the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation.
Julia Messina has been leading the creative team at NCI ARTworks since 2021. Over the past five years, she and the dedicated Board and staff have:
- helped bring world-class musicians to local schools and provided rural schools with music instruments
- offered free public concerts with our Christmas and Summer Tubafest series and ensemble concerts
- showcased over 160 emerging and affirmed local, regional, and national artists
- hosted 65 professional level exhibitions at the NCI ARTworks Gallery
- provided approximately 210k of revenue to local, regional, and national artists
- conducted a cash-award juried art show, emerging artist shows, and youth art shows
- brought in the White House Senior Policy Analyst, Peter Gaumond, for the Trauma & Recovery exhibition and published 2 books: “The Life & Art of Father Joseph Heyd, O.S.B.” and “From Harm to Hope, A Multi-Artist Retrospective of Trauma & Recovery”
- built partnerships with other local galleries and venues to showcase local & regional artists
- developed annual fundraising tours focused on art and culture in the USA and abroad
- celebrated and recognized the top talent at the high school level in the tri-county area
- partnered with local municipalities to host summer art camps and offered workshops and classes
Sara O’Dell has been selected to lead NCI ARTworks as the Executive Director, continuing to grow and improve this important regional nonprofit that hosts art exhibitions, music events, and facilitates the creation of public art installations in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam counties.
Sara brings a wealth of community volunteer experience to her position as the NCI ARTworks Executive Director. A longtime advocate for the arts, Sara’s focus has been primarily on the music component of the NCI ARTworks mission, assisting at NCI ARTworks-sponsored music events. She is expanding her artistic repertoire to include the visual arts as she has been helping to curate and organize art exhibits at the NCI ARTworks gallery in Peru.
Sara attended Michigan State University and Southern Illinois University. After moving to the Illinois Valley in 2007, she has led the STEM program at a local summer day camp since 2017, where she shares her expertise in science and technology. Outside of her professional work, she is an avid traveler and outdoor enthusiast. Sara notes that, “I am delighted to keep the NCI Artworks mission moving forward bringing the arts to everyone in our community and showcasing our very talented artists.”
According to former NCI ARTworks Executive Director, Julia Mautino Messina, “I am confident that NCI Artworks is destined to continue to flourish under new, talented leadership and guided by a board that cares deeply about our mission to build community through art.”
NCI ARTworks is a regional arts agency, a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and expanding the arts community in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam Counties through artistic collaboration, educational outreach, and art space development. Its mission also is to create venues which support public and private education, community events, economic development, and cultural tourism. NCI ARTworks is located in the Westclox ARTworks Center in the west wing of the Westclox building in Peru. The organization is supported, in part, by the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation.
