Heidi Wilson’s visionary strengths were the driving force in the establishment of the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission(CAC). After assessing regional resources and surveying key community stakeholders, Wilson built consensus supporting the need for a commission championing the arts and in 2011 the Coronado City Council established the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission. Wilson was appointed to the newly established commission and elected as the chair, a position she held for five years. As a member of the commission Wilson led the effort to launch CoronadoARTS.com – the CAC sponsored website highlighting Coronado’s vibrant art scene. Under her tenure the commission conducted Coronado’s first Economic Impact Study evaluating the arts and culture organizations in the community. This study confirmed that the arts are indeed an economic driver that supports jobs, generates revenue and provides arts programming that bring entertainment and enjoyment to the community, beautifies our shared public spaces and strengthens the social fabric of Coronado. In 2015 Wilson lead efforts for the City’s 125th Anniversary Celebration which raised funds for the 2018 Coronado CREATES Strategic Plan for Arts and Culture. Wilson has 30+ years of Arts Administration experience and has returned to lead the commission into its next decade with a mission to harness the power of collaborative efforts to bring together artists, organizations, and the community to support, encourage and further develop a thriving creative community in Coronado..
Prior to UC San Diego, Jeanmarie served as the Education Director for the San Diego County Bar Association where she oversaw their MCLE program serving more than 10,000 legal professionals. Previous to that she had a very successful career as a freelance journalist and media consultant where she launched two columns nationally syndicated through Parenting Publications of America and was published prolifically in both local and national media.
Jeanmarie has lived in Coronado for almost 25 years and where she has served as a substitute teacher in the Coronado Unified School District for more than a decade. Her two adult sons graduated from Coronado High School where they both played on the CHS Varsity Soccer Team. She graduated summa cum laude from Linfield College with a triple major in Communications, English, and Education. When not volunteering in the community or substitute teaching, she enjoys spending time with her sons, daughter-in-laws, and three grandchildren, preferably at the beach or in the pool.
Deb Kaller expresses her creativity as both an artist and an engineer. Her lifelong passion has been ceramics, maintaining both a home studio as well as working in group studio environments. Deb has traveled extensively and enjoys food and cooking. Other creative outlets include a travel sketchbook and a cooking blog. Her professional background is in the semiconductor industry, where she worked with worldwide teams to develop new technology and make cell phones smaller and smarter. Deb has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona. She has two patents and has made numerous presentations at industry conferences. She started a consulting company in 2008 which advised multiple companies on technology strategy and intellectual property. Before joining the commission, Deb served as a volunteer with the Visual Arts working group including the installation of the C3 Gallery, and then with the Communications team, leading upgrades to the CAC’s social media presence.
Paul Schutz joins the Cultural Arts Commission as Commissioner of Art Education.
Marcus Echols-Booth joins the Cultural Arts Commission as Commissioner of Arts and Prosperity. After growing up locally, for most of his twenties he toured the world as a professional pianist, composer, and fine arts advocate. In addition to performances in Paris, Tokyo, Mexico City, New York, New Orleans, and elsewhere, some of his fondest on-stage memories were here in Coronado where he was welcomed back during holiday seasons to perform at the library and as a featured CoSA alumni. Besides performance, his theoretical work led to a residency at the storied Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique in Paris and an opportunity to help military cybersecurity professionals back home in the States avoid eye strain by converting visual signals to musically viable sounds. Nowadays he works as a financial planner, continuing to support the arts by putting clients at ease buying paintings and concert tickets in town or donating to the aesthetic cause. Having recently decided to make Coronado his permanent home, he sees it as a duty and a privilege to serve in any capacity he can.
Kelly Purvis was hired as the first Contract Arts Administrator for the City of Coronado and staff liaison to the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission. She joined the team in December of 2013. In February 2019 she was hired as a Senior Management Analyst for Coronado and continues to work in support of Arts and Culture and the Cultural Arts Commission. A local arts supporter and longtime community volunteer, Purvis assists the Cultural Arts Commission in fulfilling its mission to strengthen, coordinate, and connect the arts with the citizens of Coronado. Purvis served as the first director of development for the Coronado Historical Association and did event coordination for the San Diego political fundraising firm of