Erico Ortiz (President) is a Puerto Rico native who served in various capacities within the Milwaukee Public Schools, including classroom aide, teacher, supervisor, and principal, until 2011. He has participated on multiple community boards, focusing on the arts, education, and religious organizations. In 2014, leveraging his extensive background in community theatre, Hispanic folk dance, Spanish folk guitar, and visual arts, he acquired a former funeral home in West Allis and successfully transformed it into an intimate and dynamic art gallery and performance venue known as Inspiration Studios. This establishment has become a welcoming space for both established and emerging artists and performers, fostering creativity and community engagement.

Codi Peters (Vice-President) is a local artist and small business owner from Miwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a 2014 UW Milwaukee alumni with a BFA in Digital Studio Practice. Codi has done freelance design and small local markets under her LLC FreshPrintsofMKE to sell her own paintings and artwork since graduating. In December of 2020 she and her husband Benjamin Buss opened Stalley Cats. Codi has become the resident designer and merchandise printer, marketing director, and bartender for Stalley Cats. She has developed their creative engagement in the community by hosting Gallery Nights monthly and also Art Classes. She takes pride in awareness and engagement in the artistic community and hopes to help showcase what makes West Allis a special place to be.

Suzann Campbell (Treasurer) studied Fashion Design and Theatre Arts at Mount Mary University, later earning a BA in Business Management and Communications from Concordia University. She’s owned MAC Costumes since 1995 and moved the business to West Allis, WI, in 2024. Suzann has been active in the arts community all of her career, including serving on boards for Modjeska Theatre, Charles Allis Art Museum, and currently, Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove.

Patricia Eby has had a distinguished career in music education and choral direction, spanning several decades and encompassing a variety of roles and achievements. Currently, she is the director of West Allis West Milwaukee Suburban Singers, a position she has held since 2017, when she planted roots in West Allis. Eby is Professor Emerita of Music from the UW System. She received a BS in Music and Education from Chicago State University and Master of Music and Ph.D. (abd) from Kent State University. Eby has been known throughout her career to be an educator of excellence and innovation. Several times, she was the recipient of the Kaplan Award for excellent and innovative teaching and was awarded the University Teaching Award by her peers. At the University of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac, Eby served as Professor of Music and was appointed Associate Campus Dean. Eby also directed the campus chorus and FDL Chamber Orchestra, founded the Vocal Jazz Ensemble and FDL Chamber Singers.

As a church musician, Eby has held director positions in several states. She spent twenty years as Director of Choirs for Holy Family Catholic Community in Fond du Lac, WI where, in addition to the adult choirs, she directed the Hispanic Choir and founded the Hispanic Youth Choir, the Children’s Choir and the Contemporary Choir. Most recently she was the Director of Choirs at Mount Zion ELCA in Wauwatosa.

Michael James Grassman is a Milwaukee based multi-instrumentalist, performer, creator, instructor, entertainment director, sound/lighting engineer and also an event DJ. Michael is the owner of Sound Check Entertainment, based in West Allis, Wi. Dabbling in just about everything music related.

Colleen Volland is the owner of Cream City Clay. What enables her to run this amazing business is the endless encouragement from her husband and two daughters.
Colleen has taught people of all ages since 1997. She holds a degree in K-12 grade Art Education and a Masters of Art. She loves to make large platters painted with a variety of materials such as slips, oxides, under glazes and wax resist. The finished pieces are often carved with figurative imagery. Working with others is her passion. Colleen loves to make collaborative public art works in the form of tile murals, sculptures and mosaic. In her free time you can often find her looking for new materials, tools and glaze recipes to share. Teaching is what she was put on the earth to do and she often says, “When my students excitedly tell me, they just created something that they didn’t think they could, I feel successful.”

Daniel Herro is an artist from West Allis, Wisconsin focusing on painting and small scale sculptures. His artwork was recently included in group exhibitions at the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton and the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend. Dan is currently the Head Designer and Preparator at the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University and received his BFA from The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Chad Halvorsen brings over 20 years of experience in commercial, web, and film production. He has produced multiple award-winning projects and three feature films, with a strong focus on crafting compelling narratives across both fiction and documentary formats. In addition to his creative work, Chad is currently serving his first term as Alder for West Allis District 2.

Suzanne Singh (City of West Allis Staff) is the Community and Neighborhood Services Coordinator for the City of West Allis, where she leads community-building initiatives that promote civic engagement, foster collaboration, and inspire collective problem-solving. By creating meaningful connections among residents, Suzanne’s work strengthens neighborhood pride and helps build a more vibrant and engaged West Allis community. Suzanne holds a Master’s in Public Administration and has an extensive background in the nonprofit sector. Her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps in Romania, followed by serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader in rural Kentucky. Before moving to Wisconsin, she was the Associate Director of Community Building at Metro United Way in Louisville, Kentucky, where she specialized in neighborhood development and community capacity building and earned the distinguished “40 Under Forty” award from Louisville Business First publication.

Our board members—an inspiring group of dedicated volunteers—bring together diverse backgrounds and expertise from across the vast spectrum of the arts. With a shared passion for nurturing and promoting artistic expression in West Allis, we strive to create an inclusive environment where opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and growth flourish. Together, we celebrate the unique talents of our community, aiming to enhance the cultural landscape of our beloved city. Join us on this exciting journey as we cultivate the arts and inspire future generations of artists and art enthusiasts alike!

Meet Our Board