Board & Staff

The Shell Lake Arts Center is governed by a 15-member board, selected to serve two, three-year consecutive terms. The board members are selected for their accomplishments in the arts, education, business, and/or public service and represent rural and urban areas from the region. The board and Executive Director work together to create an environment where adult and school age students have meaningful connections, find their voices, create art, make friends, grow and reach their full potential.

executive committee

President
Jeffrey Southern
Rice Lake, WI

Immediate Past President
William Taubman
Shell Lake, WI

Vice President
Sheila Aderman Squires
Shell Lake, WI

Secretary
Megan Conners
Shell Lake, WI

Treasurer

Maureen Revak
Spooner, WI

board members

Julie Krueger
Lino Lakes, MN

Laurie Bakkum
Shell Lake, WI

Katie Guyer
Minneapolis, MN

Pete Hopke
Shell Lake, WI

Greg Keel
Woodbury, MN

Lynnea Lake
Spooner, WI

Harvey Halpaus
Ellsworth, WI

Steve Zenz
Milwaukee, WI

executive director

administrative staff

2

Alyssa Degner
Operations Manager

Alyssa Degner attended Depaul University-Greencastle and received a Bachelor of General Music. After spending most of her adult life in southern Indiana, she moved back to her hometown of Shell Lake. Alyssa is passionate about music and enjoys playing and listening to many types of music. She also loves kayaking, camping, fishing, and spending time outside and is very excited for the opportunity to work with the Shell Lake Arts Center.

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Carmala Aderman
Interim Director of Publicity and Marketing

Carm Aderman works part time as our Director of Publicity and Communications. She was born and raised in Shell Lake before going to college (UW-Madison) and having adventures in her adult life. She worked in the Twin Cities, Wautoma, WI, Rice Lake, WI, and Omaha NE before retiring and returning to Shell Lake in late 2021. Her responsibilities here include our advertising, social media, and email communications.  

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Caroline Connolly
Camp Coordinator & Head Counselor

Caroline Connolly started her career at the Shell Lake Arts Center in 2022 as a camp counselor. She is scheduled to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in December 2023 with a Bachelor's Degree in Instrumental/General K-12 Music Education. In addition to exploring music, Caroline enjoys painting, spending time outdoors, playing video games, traveling, and spending time with her cat, Hank. She cannot wait for the summer!

 

Contact Caroline for any day-to-date camp questions.

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Jeff Mortensen
Facility Manager

A historic arts center like ours needs the best support. Our facilities manager Jeff works year round doing maintenance work on our campus. Jeff recently retired from the Twin Cities and relocated to the beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods. Jeff loves making the Center a great destination for campers and visitors. You can find Jeff fishing, hunting, and making maple syrup!

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Sharai Hefty
Kitchen Manager

Sharai has had the distinct pleasure of serving SLAC students, faculty, and staff since 2018. She says that each summer gets better and better because not only does she have the memories of past summers and the wonderful “friends” she's made along the way, but has enjoyed “The Most Amazing” concerts & productions from “The Most Amazing” students in the world!

She only expects the students, concerts, and of course their dining experiences to continue to be better each year!

Master teachers, a Magic setting, and Great Food!

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Terri Johnson

Bookkeeper

Terri has lived in Washburn County WI her whole life. She have been a bookkeeper/accounting/bank teller in her working life. She is married to Kevin Johnson for 45 years and they have 2 grown children and 4 wonderful grandchildren. She is active in Washburn County 4-H and manages the 4-H food stand at the county fair. She and her husband have a small beef cattle farm and we enjoy going camping.  She likes sewing and crafts. Terri looks forward to helping the Art Center get the notice that it needs to prosper.

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Tamara Smith
Collaborative Pianist

Tamara Smith attended UW-Eau Claire and received her Bachelor's of Music Education degree. After teaching in northwestern Wisconsin, she moved to Denver, Colorado and served as Minister of Music, taught private lessons, and enjoyed administrative work. In 2004, she moved back to her native Shell Lake with her husband and two daughters and has been very active as a free-lance musician. Tamara has worked as an accompanist for the Shell Lake Arts Center's Show Choir Camps since 1978.