ARTSblog

Name: Liesel

Web Site: http://www.artsusa.org

Bio: Liesel Fenner is manager of public art, developing partnerships, programs, and services that increase the knowledge, visibility, and engagement of professional members with interests in public art, cultural districts, and cultural facilities. She builds relationships with national program partners; cultivates field leadership through the Public Art Network (PAN); implements field programs, events, and communications; and provides technical assistance to the field. Liesel served for three years on the PAN Council and co-chaired and planned the 2006 Public Art Preconference in Milwaukee. She delivers presentations and participates in panels, and has won many awards for her work. Liesel was formerly with the New England Foundation for the Arts for eight years as their public art program manager, where she planned, designed, fundraised, and developed partnerships to implement public art programs serving both individual artists and organizations at local, regional, and national levels. Liesel is a licensed landscape architect and practiced landscape architecture and urban design in the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and received a master’s degree in landscape architecture, with a specialization in sculpture and public art. She also received a B.A. in landscape architecture from the University of California, Davis and a certificate in community preservation from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She has taught courses on art in the landscape and has facilitated community-based public art projects. Liesel serves on community public art projects as well as boards of artist-run gallery spaces. After advocating on behalf of public art, Liesel pursues her own mixed-media sculpture, exploring America’s relationship to the vernacular landscape.