Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Keystone breakfast speaker series welcomes executive director, Kalamazoo Arts Council


Neil Bremer, executive director of the Kalamazoo Arts Council, will speak at the Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series on Friday, Jan. 28.

Bremer’s talk, "Enough Already" begins at 8 a.m. in the Dean’s Conference Room in Schneider Hall, at the Haworth College of Business. A continental breakfast begins the event at 7:30 a.m. It is free and open to the public.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling (269) 387-6059. Parking is available in the Fetzer Center parking lot adjacent to Schneider Hall.

A Michigan native, Bremer has almost thirty years of nonprofit and for-profit arts experience. Most recently, he was executive director of Elmhurst Art Museum located in Elmhurst, Ill. Over the last ten years, he led the growth of the museum from a small local art center to being critically acclaimed by ArtNet critic, Victor Cassidy as, “one of the best places to see contemporary art in the Chicago area.” While at Elmhurst, Bremer was a visiting professor at Northern Illinois University, who taught Nonprofit Administration.

Bremer has been a museum and nonprofit management consultant since 1990. He is nationally known as an expert in helping museums improve their ability to make connections with their audiences. His experience in the arts goes beyond the visual arts with his participation in multiple Kalamazoo productions, including performances with the WMU Department of Theatre and the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre.

A theatre major, Bremer received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University in 1978 with concentrations in performance and directing, and he has a minor in dance. He completed graduate work at The Art Institute of Chicago’s Master of Arts program in Arts Administration.

Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series

The Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Speaker Series is underwritten through the generosity of Keystone Community Bank. The series provides an opportunity for members of the local community to hear top business leaders, WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current business issues and corporate strategies as well as key information regarding the continuing progress of the college.