New Leadership Brings Depth and Breadth of Experience to Board at Pacific Northwest College of Art

Portland, OR — July 17, 2019 – Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is pleased to announce a new leadership team for its Board of Governors. Scott D. Musch is the new Chair of the Board of Governors, and Eloise Damrosch is the new Vice Chair. In addition, PNCA welcomes Kay Campbell, Jason Halstead, and Vanessa Triplett to the Board.

Scott D. Musch is Vice President of Corporate Development at Cambia Health Solutions, the holding company of the Regence Group (the nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plans in Utah and Oregon, and Blue Shield plans in Idaho and Washington). He brings to the board his extensive experience in corporate finance and business strategy. Damrosch is the former Executive Director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC).

The depth of expertise that Musch brings to the leadership of PNCA’s Board of Governors is an important element that will contribute to the college’s continuing success. With a sharply honed business acumen developed over a span of three decades, Musch will lead the board in its governing and fiduciary responsibilities incorporating the ideals of shared governance and strategic oversight.

Damrosch, who joined the Board in 2018, has a background that closely aligns with PNCA’s commitment to the culture of the region through year-round presentations of public programs while also pursuing its educational mission of preparing students for a life of creative practice. Following her retirement from RACC, many organizations sought out her expertise. Her decision to join PNCA’s Board of Governors adds a strength and depth to the board’s executive leadership. From 1987 to 2004, Damrosch served as the public art director of RACC and its predecessor organization, The Metropolitan Arts Commission. During her tenure as executive director from 2004-2017, RACC launched Work for Art, The Right Brain Initiative for integrated arts education, increased the City of Portland and Multnomah County percent-for-art ordinances to 2%, and helped secure the passage of Portland’s voter-approved Arts Tax. Damrosch has also worked closely with RACC’s board of directors to develop a comprehensive agenda for equity and inclusion.

These changes on the board come as PNCA is thriving, on track to bring in another record freshman class in the Fall of 2019 with growing enrollment across the board, a new Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing in the Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies, a new undergraduate major in Interactive Design and five new minors for Fall 2019 with two more—Fashion Design and Game Design—coming online Fall of 2020. PNCA is completing the build out of the new Glass Building with graduate studios and sculpture facilities including wood, metals, ceramics, moldmaking, glass, and soft sculpture.

“PNCA is fortunate to have the experienced leadership and deep commitment to the college's mission that Scott and Eloise bring to the Board, and we are also grateful to our new board members who offer a breadth of insight and perspective,” says Kate Copeland, Acting President, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs.

Longtime PNCA faculty member, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs, Copeland is currently serving as Acting President as the college interviews candidates for Interim President. Former President Don Tuski took a new position in his home state of Michigan that began July 1. Board Chair Musch formed and leads PNCA’s Transition Planning Group which in addition to leading the search for an Interim President will be launching a search for a new president this fall.

The new members of PNCA’s Board of Governors bring a wealth of experience to their positions as well as passion for the arts and higher education. Vanessa Triplett is a litigation attorney at Miller Nash Graham & Dunn and an artist who serves on the Board’s Governance Committee. Jason Halstead is a brand strategist and owner of Gist Brands who for 20 years ran the award-winning, full-service design and communications firm, View Design, in Eugene, Oregon. Kay Campbell is an artist and Professor Emerita in the Department of Art at Oregon State University with a distinguished academic career spanning more than two decades.

BIOS

Scott D. Musch
Scott D. Musch specializes in evaluating strategic investment and corporate development opportunities in health care services. He has extensive experience in corporate finance, having worked in investment banking for 12 years and prior to joining Cambia, served as senior vice president for Shattuck Hammond Partners, an investment bank focused on health care services, where he advised on mergers and acquisitions for a wide variety of health care payers and providers. Musch has also served as a vice president in the North American Mergers and Acquisitions Department at J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. During his seven-year tenure at J.P. Morgan, he was actively involved in the execution and marketing of acquisitions, divestitures, strategic advisory, and private equity assignments for public and private companies in a variety of industries. Musch earned his M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, where he was a Tuck Scholar and studied at the International University of Japan in Urasa, Japan. He also graduated with honors from the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Pennsylvania with degrees in finance and economics.

Eloise Damrosch
Eloise Damrosch was appointed Executive Director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council in 2004 after serving as Director of Public Art for 17 years. She continued to lead the Public Art Program while also building on RACC’s 17 years of exceptional service to the local arts community with an annual budget of approximately $10 million. Over the years RACC launched an extremely successful workplace giving program, Work for Art, which annually raises substantial dollars for regional arts organizations. RACC also leads a tri-county arts education initiative, The Right Brain Initiative, to return curriculum integrated arts experiences into every public school classroom.

Damrosch has earned a local and national reputation as a respected arts administrator while helping create one of the best-known public art collections in the country. She also has advised public art programs nationally. From 1987 to 1995, Damrosch served as Commissioner -- and later as Chair of the Oregon Arts Commission. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College and earned an M.A. in Art History from Columbia University. She taught Art History at the University of Virginia and at Central Oregon Community College in Bend for 12 years before moving to Portland in 1987.

Kay Campbell
Kay Campbell has had a distinguished career in higher education for over 25 years. While at Oregon State University, 1999-2017, she taught courses in Printmaking, Color Theory, and Two and Three-dimensional Design. She served as Associate Director of JumpStart –The Pre-College Fine and Performing Arts Workshop for thirteen years. At Southern Oregon University, 1987-1999, Campbell was the area head of the Textiles and Book Arts program. She curated the national exhibitions, Fiber Directions and Rising to the Surface at the Schneider Museum of Art in addition to jurying many regional exhibitions and inviting dozens of guest speakers to campus. During Campbell’s academic career she has been a tireless promoter of students’ empowerment and voice through embracing a life in the visual arts. She served as an Executive Board Member to The Surface Design Association in addition to serving on the Board of the Corvallis Art Center and on numerous Percent for Arts Committees throughout Oregon. She helped to organize two national conferences, the first held at Oregon College of Art and Craft and the second at the Kansas City Art Institute. Over her career she has reviewed and contributed to 13 textbooks on art and design.

Jason Halstead
Jason Halstead is a creative strategist and “brand therapist” who helps successful businesses and organizations that have outgrown their brands get unstuck and evolve to the next level. For almost 20 years, Halstead ran the award-winning, full-service design and communications firm, View Design in Eugene, Oregon and then relocated to Portland in 2011, to establish his own brand strategy and identity firm, Gist Brands. In addition to in-depth rebranding engagements for various types of businesses and organizations, Halstead has also taught brand strategy at the master’s degree level for the University of Oregon and developed a proprietary brand coaching process and tools that are currently being evaluated for application to a brand coach training program.

Vanessa Triplett
Vanessa Triplett is a litigation attorney with Miller Nash Graham & Dunn whose practice focuses on construction defect litigation, real estate disputes, ADA defense, and commercial construction contract drafting. She is experienced representing clients in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration proceedings. Vanessa graduated from the University of Michigan Law School where she served as executive editor of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. Prior to law school, Triplett graduated magna cum laude from the University of California Santa Barbara where she received the Academic Achievement Award for achieving the highest GPA in her major. Triplett is a member of the Oregon New Lawyers Division, the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and CourtCare.