Arts Administration Faculty & Staff
Brenda Lee Johnston received her Bachelor of Arts in Arts Management with an emphasis in Dance and a minor in Theatre Arts—Drama from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She held an internship in the Marketing and Public Relations Department at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Following her internship, Brenda filled in during a maternity leave in the Development Department at First Stage Children’s Theater. Her first full-time position was as the Development Manager at Skylight Opera Theatre (now Skylight Music Theatre). In August 2004, she took on the role of Founding Director of the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center (SMPAC). After six years at SMPAC, she pursued a dual Master’s degree in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University and Innovation and Organization of Culture and the Arts from Universita di Bologna in Italy. Her graduate thesis research was conducted at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History under the guidance of Nina Simon. Her thesis is entitled, “The Roles of Museums in Communities: Social Inclusion & Community Engagement.” She joined the Arts Administration faculty at Butler University after serving as the Executive Director of the Schauer Arts Center and teaching as an adjunct lecturer at UW-Stevens Point. She has performed with Skylight OperaTheatre, Wild Space Dance Company, Katie Sopoci and Michelle DiMeo for DanceWorks Performance Company’s “Art to Art”, Cantare Chorale, and others.
Dr. Penny Brandt is Professor of Practice in Arts Administration at Butler University and is on the executive advisory council of the Institute for Composer Diversity. Dr. Brandt has presented research on curatorial advocacy and arts activism at the national conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, for the AHRC Research Network at Royal College of Music in London, for the Society for Music Theory, the Women XXI conference in Portugal, and has published with Routledge, in Bloomsbury’s “Cultural History of Western Music in the Modern Age,” and in the American Journal of Arts Management.
Previously, Dr. Brandt was Assistant Professor and Director of Arts Administration at Wagner College in NYC, and prior to that held the position of Managing Director at Golden Hornet in Austin, Texas while teaching courses in music and arts management in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas-at Austin. From 2013–2018, Brandt was the Artistic Director of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford and taught courses in music history and gender studies at the University of Connecticut while earning a Ph.D. in Music Theory & History. Also an accomplished performer, Brandt has been described as an “excellent music director” (Talkin’ Broadway) and led dozens of musical theater productions in the United States and Canada. Brandt has performed as a collaborative pianist around the world, including at the IKFEM: International Keyboard Festival & Masterclass in Valença, Portugal, the International Vocal Arts Workshop in Grožnjan, Croatia, the US Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, and at the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy in Michigan. Dr. Brandt received a Ph.D. in Music Theory and History and M.A. in Historical Musicology from the University of Connecticut, a B.A. summa cum laude in Music (Piano) from the University of New Haven, and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Harvard University Extension School.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Journal Article:
Brandt, Penny. (2023, Fall). Curating for Diversity: Two Case Studies. In American Journal of Arts Management, 11(3). https://www.artsmanagementjournal.com
Book Chapters:
Brandt, Penny, and Hope, Alika (2024). Ray of Hope Project. In Democracy as Creative Practice: Weaving a Culture of Civic Life. Thomas Borrup and Andrew Zitcer, Editors. Routledge.
Brandt, Penny, and Deemer, Rob (2023). Technologies: Media, Myths, and Movements. In A Cultural History of Western Music in the Modern Age. William Cheng and Danielle
Fosler-Lussier, Editors. London: Bloomsbury.
Music:
2019: GAD for drone and percussionist. Traverse City: APAKA Music LLC, 2019.
Amy graduated from Northern Michigan University with a BS in mathematics and a minor in Computer Science. She worked for 15 years as a computer programmer before staying home with her two children. At Butler, she was previously the administrative assistant for Computer Science and the Faculty Senate before moving to JCA where she is the administrative assistant for the departments of Art and Arts Administration.
