By Mike Lawler
VSA Wisconsin

VSA Wisconsin has been serving adults and children with disabilities through art since 1985, and in its current location on the Northside since 2011. The building on Aberg Avenue, just off North Sherman, is VSA’s headquarters and serves multiple functions for the organization, including studios for classes and workshops, gallery space for art exhibits and offices for VSA staff. 

Recently, the statewide organization has undergone a change of leadership after the retirement of longtime leader, Kathie Wagner. Promoted from within after serving as VSA’s development director, Christina Martin-Wright is thrilled to take on her new role as executive director and has been a productive member of the Madison arts community for nearly two decades. “I’ve held leadership positions with some of the area’s most visible events and influential institutions, such as the Wisconsin Film Festival, the Division of the Arts at UW-Madison and Children’s Theater of Madison,” she said. 

Her decades of experience in nonprofit development will undoubtedly help VSA thrive and return to the era when it had even more programming and services for people with disabilities throughout Wisconsin. “My personal and professional background, coupled with experience on staff, provides me with advantages and insights that will positively impact the next phase in VSA Wisconsin’s growth and development,” said Martin-Wright.

VSA also recently hired Mike Lawler as their new director of development and external relations. Coming from a longtime position with Children’s Theater of Madison, where he was the associate artistic director, Lawler brings over a decade of experience working in the arts and nonprofit sector in Madison to his new spot at VSA. “I’ve spent the better half of 15 years working with small to midsize arts organizations as a producer and creative problem solver,” Lawler said. “I’m really excited about working for an organization like VSA that has such an important mission and a history of service to back it up.” 

VSA’s mission is never far from Martin-Wright’s mind either. “A few days after I began my position here, I attended a joint performance of the VSA Stoughton and VSA Madison choirs,” she said recently. “I thought I was prepared for the emotions that I would experience during this event, but I was wrong. The dedication and fearlessness of the participants was overwhelming. The pride on their faces could only be matched by the expressions of the family and friends who looked on.” 

Find out more about VSA and the work they do at vsawis.org.