The Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts has announced its president and chief executive officer Lynn Sprangers will retire at the end of the year.
Sprangers has led the Brookfield cultural arts center since August 2016.
“I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to lead a great team at the Wilson Center,” Sprangers said. “It is a special place supported by dedicated employees and volunteers, generous donors and an engaged board of directors. I will continue to be a strong ambassador for the Center into my retirement.”
Sprangers said her decision was influenced by the death of her brother earlier this year.
“My brother Henry lived with a significant developmental disability and, while his life was much too short, it was filled by love and care of so many,” she said. “His death hit close to home for me and was a reminder of the fragility of life. My family wants to determine a means by which we can honor his memory and I am going to be a part of it. We are looking to memorialize his too-short life, support the people who contributed to his care, and advocate for people like Henry who cannot speak for themselves.”
Sprangers has been a prominent figure in the Milwaukee area since 1983, when she joined the WTMJ-TV news team as a broadcast journalist. She has since worked as communications director for the office of the Milwaukee County Executive from 1994 to 2000, and an executive for the Milwaukee Brewers, where she ran Brewers Charities, through 2010. Sprangers held multiple positions at Mount Mary University prior to moving to the Wilson Center.
Fred Syrjanen, chairman of the board of directors, applauded Sprangers’ contributions.
“Lynn helped tell our story and expanded our reach to more people in the community, especially the life-changing impact of our arts education program for thousands of area children,” he said. “She also worked closely with the board and our finance committee to reshape a budget that will put the Center on a stronger fiscal path.”
Megan Huse, vice president of development at the center, has been named interim executive director.
