Our Board of Directors helps make policy decisions to guide the future of our organization, including in the areas of fundraising, program analysis, and personnel. If you or someone you know would like to serve on our board (or have questions about what serving on a board is like), please contact us.
Officers
Grace Novie Stolen
She/her/hers or Ae/aer/aers
Board President
Grace Novie Stolen is the Board President of Art & Soul Innovations. She also works as Director of Operations & Engagement. She was Operations Manager at Proud Theater-Wausau prior to relocating for new academic and professional endeavors. Grace started with Proud Theater as a youth in 2015 and has been involved ever since with its programming, its websites, event planning, and communications. An alum of Proud Theater’s Madison chapter, she has returned to volunteer and run tech for shows and worked on Art & Soul’s Connections intergenerational conference.
Grace is very involved in her community and has served it in a variety of capacities, including as a youth representative on the Dane County Board of Supervisors. She previously served on the board of the Pride Youth Theater Alliance. Grace currently works for Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin and calls Washburn on Lake Superior’s Chequamegon Bay home.
Scott Feiner
Scott Feiner (he/him/his) is the Board Vice President and the Board Treasurer. Scott was an adult mentor for Proud Theater-Madison from 2002-2005 and is honored to return as a member of Art & Soul board. His current focus is to establish an archive of Proud Theater’s past and present theatrical works to further its artistic mission. Scott is also a playwright and longtime board member of Broom Street Theater.
Michael Frey
Michael Frey (he/him/his) is the Board Secretary, and he currently works in the IT department for a financial company on the west side of Madison and is a member of the LGBT employee resource group within the company. He is very appreciative of the positive atmosphere Proud Theater has provided to his two children, Mikael and Cassandra. As an expression of thanks, he wants to give back to the organization that has meant so much to his children.
He didn’t see himself being an ally of the LGBT community growing up in a conservative suburb of Milwaukee. He remembers one of the worst things to be accused of back in High School was being gay. One of his best friends came out as gay and lost some of friends because of it. He could never understand people’s fears of the LGBT community. Times certainly have changed and are going in the right direction. When he gets opportunities, he speaks openly to his conservative friends to understand their thoughts and positions on the LGBT community and why they feel the way they do. His thought is to be open to discussion and to try and not be critical of people who have different views, but instead to be open to understanding of why people think the way they do. The fight for equality and nondiscrimination is not done, but he sees promise in the younger generations going forward.
Directors
Kody Hart
He/him/his
Board Director
Kody Hart of Wausau recently joined the Art & Soul Innovations board. He currently serves on the Marathon County Board of Supervisors.
Jan Sternbach
Jan Sternbach (she/her/hers) first became aware of Proud Theater through Sol Kelley-Jones, who was a co-founder along with Callen Harty. Within a few years, Proud Theater had become a major part of her younger son Mateo’s life, providing Mateo with creative expression; support and guidance from peers, mentors, and involved adults; and another way to express his activism and commitment to social change. Jan’s favorite Proud Theater show was watching – and laughing uncontrollably – as Mateo portrayed Jan’s fashion approach, cooking “experiments”, and way of thinking out loud in a skit. Jan has had a commitment to political and social justice since she can remember, and is active in civil rights, anti-war, student-led education, anti-racism, union, Central American support movements, as well as working on local campaigns.
Professionally, she worked in higher education administration and social services for “a gazillion years” and was passionate about her work running a community center in an extremely diverse community. She says that one of her greatest contributions was recognizing when it was time to get out of the way to let a younger generation lead.
Kyra Eli Tomcheck
Kyra Eli Tomcheck (he/him/his pronouns) identifies as a Native American, queer, transgender man. Originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, he went to undergrad at UW-Whitewater, graduating with a Bachelor’s in Communication Electronic Media and a minor in Film Studies. Kyra moved to Madison in September 2021 and is excited to be part of the Proud Theater and Art & Soul Innovations team!
Brian Wild
He/him/his
Board Director
Brian Wild has been working in theater since the age of 8 and has been involved in over 100 theatrical productions since 1977. He co-founded Art & Soul Innovations, the nonprofit behind Proud Theater, and oversees all Proud Theater chapters as its Executive Director.
Wild has been a member of one of the oldest experimental theaters in the nation, Broom Street Theater, for over 24 years as an actor, playwright, and director and designer. He served on their Board of Directors as Treasurer from 2005-2010, and has staged 17 original plays for the troupe as playwright and director.
Wild also co-founded Luna Bonita, a Latino organization in Madison, Wisconsin (now known as Noches Latinas), and also co-founded El Grupo Vida/The Life Group, a bi-lingual organization designed to raise funds for local non-profits through the art of Drag performance.
Honors include the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award at Broom Street Theater for extraordinary dedication to the promotion of experimental theater, a certificate of achievement from GSAFE for his commitment to community activism and social justice in Wisconsin, and the 2008 Outreach, Inc. ‘Man of the Year’ award for his work with youth in the community. In 2012, Wild received a Madison Bartie Theater Award for best sound design for the local theatrical production of ‘The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker.’