press release
Imagine MKE Hires Former UPAF Officer as Next Executive Director
Christine Hojnacki Named New Leader of Nonprofit Focused on Advancing the Region’s Arts, Culture & Creative Sectors
Milwaukee, December 11, 2024 – Imagine MKE announced today that it has hired long-time arts, development, and marketing leader Christine Hojnacki as the nonprofit’s new executive director. Imagine MKE was founded in 2019 to advance and advocate for the region’s arts, culture, and creative industries.
Hojnacki most recently served as Chief Development Officer for the United Performing Arts Fund. She joined UPAF in 2018 as Vice President, Workplace and Company Giving, following a lengthy career with The Bonton-Stores, Inc. where she was both a corporate Vice President and President of the retailer’s Foundation.
“Christine brings a wealth of senior management, marketing, and fundraising experience to Imagine MKE,” said Beth Haskovec, Imagine MKE Board Chair. “Having worked closely with Milwaukee’s arts, corporate, and civic leaders for nearly two decades, Christine has a keen understanding of the mutual needs and interests of the region’s cultural, corporate, and donor communities.”
“Christine joins Imagine MKE at a critical time as our local arts and culture organizations continue to struggle post-pandemic amidst a changing operational and funding landscape,” added Katie Heil, Founding Chair, Image MKE. “Christine will drive the conversations and collaboration necessary to develop a regional vision and plan to help ensure the future of our arts and culture sector and its value to Milwaukee’s economic, educational, and emotional well-being.”
Heil points to the sense of urgency noted in a May report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum that called for, “convening top funders, board leaders, arts group directors, and public sector officials to plot a sustainable future for the arts by strategically linking the sector and its need for additional funding to broader community goals.”
A longstanding challenge cited in the current report, as well as previous Forum research, is the lack of public funding for Wisconsin’s arts organizations. Wisconsin continues to rank last or second to the last in per capita state funding, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Yet, Wisconsin’s arts and culture sector contributes nearly $12 billion to the state’s economy.
“It’s time to raise the curtain on a new and unified vision that elevates the vital role of arts and culture to a vibrant and prosperous Milwaukee,” Hojnacki said. “Together we can transform how we support and invest in arts and culture, so it benefits us all.”
Hojnacki started with Imagine MKE late last month. She replaces Adam Braatz, who has since joined the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.
# # #
About Imagine MKE
Imagine MKE drives vibrancy, prosperity, and systemic change in the Greater Milwaukee area by advancing and advocating for the region's arts, culture, and creative industries.