Shannon Westerman

Shannon Westerman Executive Director

Arriving with over 22 years of marketing and advertising experience, Shannon Westerman joined the LVAA team as their Executive Director on July 1, 2008.

Graduating from Auburn University and then receiving his MBA from the University of Louisville, Shannon began his professional career with Humana, Inc., serving as both a hospital administrator in Louisville and Chicago, eventually becoming Corporate Director of Marketing. This experience provided the springboard for him to launch his own company in Atlanta, pioneering the implementation of direct-marketing strategies in the field of hospital/provider-based marketing and advertising.

Beginning in 1992, Shannon scored perhaps his greatest professional success as founder, principal partner and CEO of Ivory Communications, Inc, a full service marketing communications firm with offices in Atlanta, GA and New York City. For 10 years he worked to establish his firm as a cutting edge leader in the highly competitive world of marketing.

Shannon has always been a supporter and appreciator of the arts. Serving as a board member for the Actors Express Theater in Atlanta and being involved with the Arts Festival of Atlanta he first found the opportunity to merge his professional skills with his passion and appreciation for the creative world, setting the stage for his entrance into the arts scene in Louisville.

He became involved with the LVAA initially by volunteering as the marketing co-chair on the Centennial Committee in 2008 before being offered the Executive Director's post. Shannon was drawn to this organization because of the challenge and opportunity to revitalize its 100-year mission as a leader in the Louisville visual arts community.

He now resides in the Highlands with his French bulldogs Ruby and Gus.

Shannon is a member of the American Marketing Association, and the Home furnishings and Design Association.

Shannon WestermanExecutive Director
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Shannon Westerman

The Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Shannon Westerman asLVAA's new Executive Director.Following a unanimous vote of approval by the Board on Monday, June 23, Mr. Westerman assumed his full-time post on July 1.He succeeds interim Executive Director Marcia Boone.

Previously, Mr. Westerman served as principal partner and CEO of Ivory Communications, Inc, a full service marketing communications firm with offices in Atlanta, GA and New York City.A graduate of Auburn University and a former hospital administrator and corporate marketing director at Humana, Inc., Westerman recently returned to Louisville after living in Manhattan for eleven years.

LVAA Board president Benton Keith states, "The Board of Directors and I are thrilled that Shannon Westerman will join the LVAA as our new Executive Director.
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Feel free to contact Shannon Westerman at 502.896.2146 (x111) or email, shannon@louisvillevisualart.org.

To schedule an interview with Shannon Westerman, please contact:
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Hank Hensley, LVAA Board Treasurer; Shannon Westerman, LVAA Executive Director; Benton Keith, LVAA Board President.

Shannon Westerman, LVAA's executive director for the past six months, is determined to lead the organization toward that goal in a very 21st-century way.

"Today, art is recognized as a vital component of success in both local and global society," Westerman said. "To that end, LVAA is committed to innovative efforts that will bring as many people as possible into engagement with their culture through meaningful experiences of visual arts, and help artists of all ages reach their full creative potential.

"As a catalyst for education and participation in the visual arts, LVAA is going to focus on building community involvement with the arts through collaboration - that is, work closely with other community-based organizations, artists groups and others - to expand visual art opportunities for diverse audiences and artists, thereby helping to increase the 'cultural capital' of Louisville."

Hard at work Westerman, who spent part of his childhood in Louisville but most of his earlier career in Atlanta and New York City, adds that "the amount of cultural capital we have in Louisville is already pretty significant."

Although the J. B. Speed Art Museum and other venerable institutions are important resources and "pillars of our cultural community," he believes that LVAA's three-pronged approach to supporting the visual arts is also crucial.
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Artists shouldn't have to go to New York, Cincinnati or Indianapolis to get into exhibits, in my opinion," Westerman said.
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The celebration is called ArteBella 100 - a made-up name that, Westerman joked, "sounded beautiful and Italian, so who couldn't like it?"
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"All of our events and programs are presented to fulfill our mission," Westerman said. "Actually, LVAA has been doing a pretty good job for the past 100 years.

The winning entry will be selected by a panel of judges including Allan Cowen, President and CEO of the Fund for the Arts, Ken VonRoenn, President of Glassworks, and Shannon Westerman, Executive Director of the Louisville Visual Art Association.

The board of the Louisville Visual Art Association has appointed Shannon Westerman as the group's executive director.

The Louisville Visual Art Association announced Wednesday that its board of directors has hired Shannon Westerman to serve as executive director of the nonprofit organization.

Westerman most recently lived in New York City and served as principal partner and CEO of Ivory Communications Inc., a marketing communications firm with offices in New York City and Atlanta.

He also has served as a hospital administrator and corporate marketing director for Louisville-based Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM).

Westerman was selected from a field of 85 applicants during a nationwide candidate search, the LVAA said in a news release.

Shannon Westerman

Louisville Visual Art Association and Children's Fine Art Classes For 85 years, Children's Fine Art Classes (CFAC) have been the heart and soul of the Louisville Visual Art Association.

Shannon Westerman, Executive Director shannon@louisvillevisualart.org, 502.896.2146 x111

To learn more about how our sponsorship and marketing partnerships offer remarkable opportunities to establish an emotional connection between your company and the community, please contact Shannon Westerman, Executive Director, 502.896.2146,

Executive Director Shannon Westerman says, "Dealing with myriad challenges of our time, they have created artful expressions of how self-imposed and environmental pressures affect our culture, socialization norms, relationships and identity."