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Fox Cities native Christina Turner began her new position as president of the Trout Museum of Art and Building for the Arts in October 2018. After living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 25 years, her return five years ago was an opportunity to be nearer to family. “My whole career has been building towards working here in ways that would be surprising,” Turner says.

She worked for the IDG company, which is well known for their “books for dummies.” Turner explains that through this job, she had learned to craft ways to demystify things that are complex for people, such as computers. “Art is that way. Art can be intimidating and we don’t want to be intimidating,” she says. Turner ran the marketing and international sales department at
the company.

Having four degrees, Turner has a deep appreciation for education. She graduated from UW-Madison with degrees in political science and economics. Then, she continued on to the University of San Diego to get her master’s degree in international relations. Lastly, she received both her BFA and MFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

She hopes to transform the museum into a place in the community where a variety of people can feel comfortable coming at some point in the year to see an exhibit. “Everyone might not be interested in every exhibit, maybe only just a couple of [them]. Whatever we do, I want to do it well,” Turner says.

A new event coming this year to the Trout is Quickdraw! on April 6 from 6 to 9 p.m. This is a live drawing event where attendees will be able to watch artists from a range of experience levels from high school to professional. The pieces will be available for purchase at the end of the event. There will be music, food and drinks provided.

Overall, Turner finds enjoyment in the opportunity to help grow the museum. “The staff have been a joy to work with,” she says. “Like a painting, you have to work a little everywhere so the painting becomes clear at once.” -SW