Commissioners

Anne Penny Valentine, Commission Chair, Carmel

Anne recently joined Accenture as a consultant manager serving a variety of public service clients. Prior to joining Accenture, Anne was the Chief of Staff for the office of Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, leading the executive office and overseeing the operations of the state agencies within the portfolio of the Lieutenant Governor, including the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Previously, she served as the Vice President for Government Relations at United Way of Central Indiana where she advocated on behalf of early childhood education and whole-family solutions to address poverty. Anne’s career has covered three different industries: state government, nonprofit and higher education including leadership roles with Ivy Tech Community College and the Office of Governor Mitch Daniels. In the non-profit arts community, Anne has worked for Indianapolis Opera, the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and the Arts Council of Indianapolis, allowing the opportunity to work closely with the city of Indianapolis as well as a wide range of arts organizations throughout central Indiana. In 2017, Governor Eric Holcomb appointed Anne to serve as a commissioner with the Indiana Arts Commission. Anne earned a bachelor's degree from Butler University and a graduate certificate in public management from the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI.

Dave Haist, Vice Chair, Wabash

A Wabash, Indiana native, Dave lived in South Bend for 10 years as a partner of Barnes & Thornburg and then moved in 1986 to Fort Wayne to help open the firm’s Fort Wayne office. He later became the office Managing Partner of the Barnes & Thornburg’s Fort Wayne office. After representing Do it Best Corp. as a partner of the firm, he was asked to join Do it Best Corp.’s management team in 1997 and retired as its COO in 2012. He and his wife recently returned to his hometown of Wabash, and they share time between Wabash, Lake Maxinkuckee in Culver and Venice, Florida. He has served a number of business and nonprofit boards throughout Indiana and beyond.

Dave began serving for arts organizations in South Bend as he served the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. After moving to Fort Wayne, he served on the boards of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic (including board president for two years) Arts United and the Fort Wayne Ballet. In Wabash, Dave served as the Chair of the Board of The Honeywell Foundation and now serves as Chair of the Board of the Honeywell Arts Academy. Dave currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Arts United.

Réna Bradley, Secretary, Fort Wayne

Réna Bradley Is a neighborhood planner in the City of Fort Wayne's Department of Neighborhoods and one of Fort Wayne's foremost experts in placemaking, asset-based development, and neighborhood revitalization. She believes that beauty is a call to justice and that a community's residents are its greatest assets.

Réna lives and works in Fort Wayne where she has held various Community Development positions and has raised over $10.5 million to help improve city neighborhoods by supporting the renovation of over 20 houses, activation and maintenance of over 20 vacant lots, installation of 3 pocket parks, and mobilization of hundreds of volunteers and neighborhood residents. Her contributions were among those that resulted in the Mount Vernon Park neighborhood experiencing an over 60% reduction and a sharp increase in rates of homeownership.

Réna is secretary of the Indiana Arts Commission and a board member of the Fort Wayne Allen County Airport Authority, the Fort Wayne Urban League, and Creative Women of the World. She is a proud alumna of Howard University's College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Science; the Detroit Revitalization Fellows; and Virginia Society AIA's emerging leaders in architecture.

Azizi Arrington-Slocum, Terre Haute

Azizi Arrington-Slocum is the Chair of the Department of Built Environment and a Professor of Interior Architecture Design at Indiana State University. Prior to her work at ISU she served as a project manager at Johnson Peterson Architects in Tallahassee, Fla., and as an adjunct professor at Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College for five years. She is a licensed architect and registered interior designer. Her research interest focuses on relationships between architecture/design and the arts. She has volunteered as a Girl Scout Brownie Troop leader and received the Community-Based Learning and Scholarship Award from Indiana State University in 2011.

Chad Bolser, Richmond

Chad Bolser, PhD, has a thirty-year career in education, leading different organizations in K-12 and higher education. Bolser spent the first twenty-two years of his career in athletics as a basketball coach/athletic administrator at Lindenwood University, Millikin University, St. Teresa High School, and Richmond High School. Bolser joined Ivy Tech Community College in 2014 and has served in the capacities of Campus President (2014-2017), Chancellor (2017-2019 and 2022-present), and Vice President of Operations for Ivy Tech’s southern campuses (2019-2022).

Bolser earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Lindenwood University (MO) in 1992, a Master of Education from Earlham College (IN) in 2007, and a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Grand Canyon University (AZ) in 2024.  Along with Bolser’s education, he is a certified coach, trainer, and facilitator of Simplex Creative Problem Solving, as well as a certified Prosci Change Management facilitator.

Bolser resides in Richmond, Indiana, with his wife, Leslie. The Bolser family has two daughters: Mallory, who attends the University of Cincinnati and is in CCM's acting program, and Maren, who will enter Wittenberg University in the fall of 2025.

Daniel Luis Martinez, Columbus

Daniel Luis Martinez is a registered architect, educator, and co-founder of the multi-disciplinary design studio LAA Office, which explores the intersection of landscape, art, and architecture. His research and creative work investigate the potential of public art to generate alternative forms of Placemaking. Daniel is an Assistant Professor and Director of Indiana University’s J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program and a faculty advisor to the Center for Rural Engagement. He was a participant in the 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial and Art Omi’s 2022 Architecture Residency in upstate New York. In 2019, he was named an Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellow and received an AIA Henry Adams Medal from the University of Florida in 2012. Daniel has worked at leading architectural firms, including Allied Works and Weiss/Manfredi, and his writing has been published in notable architectural journals, including Mas Context, San Rocco, Clog, and Drawing Matter.

Greg Hull, Indianapolis

Walter Knabe, Indianapolis

A designer since the age of 14, Walter obtained his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin. Walter opened his first studio nearly 35 years ago as a painter in New York City. His paintings quickly morphed into full-scale wall coverings, which have been in demand by many high profile clients and interior design houses. His artwork can be found in the homes and offices of film, sports and music legends. Walter has been the official artist for several high profile events, including the Indianapolis 500.

Laurie Burns McRobbie, Bloomington

Laurie Burns McRobbie is First Lady Emerita and University Fellow at Indiana University. As IU’s 18th First Lady, Laurie founded the women’s philanthropy program at the IU Foundation and served as Honorary Chair of the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council (WPLC), where she remains an active member. With a career background in higher ed IT and high-performance computer networking, she co-founded the Center of Excellence for Women and Technology at IU-Bloomington and the Laurie Burns McRobbie ServeIT Clinic (a service-learning program providing IT services to local non-profits) in the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering. She holds adjunct faculty appointments in the Luddy School and in the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, where she serves on its Board of Visitors and on the National Advisory Council for the school’s Women’s Philanthropy Institute. Laurie serves on other local and state-wide boards in addition to the Indiana Arts Commission, including the Riley Children’s Foundation Board of Governors, the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission, and the Indiana Conference for Women.

Jake Oakman, Indianapolis

Jake Oakman is Senior Vice President of External Relations at the Indianapolis Zoo. In this capacity, he leads the fundraising, brand strategy, membership, public relations, sponsorship, government relations, and Indianapolis Prize teams.

Prior to joining the Zoo, Jake was executive director of White River State Park. Welcoming more than 4 million visitors a year, White River State Park is one of the most visited attractions in Indiana. Under Jake’s leadership, the park underwent a $4.5 million repair and maintenance program. Jake began the $65 million park extension along the west bank of the White River and helped secure a $30 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. in support of the project. When completed, this will be the largest addition to the park since its founding in the early 1980s.

He previously served as director of communications for Visit Indiana. In this role he helped launch a new brand campaign and was part of the team that developed the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay. His first full-time job was in White River State Park with the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field. During Eric Holcomb's gubernatorial administration, Jake served as the governor's primary speechwriter and liaison for international engagement. In the latter role, he helped plan and staff 10 international economic development trips to 16 countries. During the 2020 campaign, Jake was director of strategic communications on the governor’s senior campaign team. Reelected in a landslide, in 2020 Holcomb earned the most votes for a gubernatorial candidate in Indiana history. Additional experience includes serving as Lt. Governor Holcomb’s director of communications, deputy press secretary to Governor Mitch Daniels and director of the IUPUI Student Foundation. He is a member of the Indiana Arts Commission and the Downtown Indy, Inc. board of directors.

Jake earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University where he served as student body president his senior year. He earned his MBA from the University of Southern Indiana. Jake was born in South Bend, Indiana and grew up in Springfield, Ohio. He was awarded the Governor's Distinguished Service Medal by Governor Mitch Daniels and named a Sagamore of the Wabash, the state's highest honor, by Governor Eric Holcomb.

Kelsey Peaper, Indianapolis

Kelsey has worked in education the past 16 years and is currently working at the Department of Education. Kelsey graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in Theatre and minors in Vocal Music and Communication. After graduation she joined Teach for America and taught as a Special Educator at a high school in Los Angeles, California. She obtained her Masters in Special Education from Loyola Marymount University. Kelsey then taught middle school as a Special Educator in Brooklyn, New York. She moved to Indianapolis in 2013 with her husband and served as Assistant School Leader and the Director of Special Education at a public charter elementary school in Indianapolis. Her passion for both the arts and education is something that is very important to her, especially making art accessible to all as well as art integration in education.

Renee Thomas, Lafayette