Tippecanoe Arts Federation
Grow the Arts: Access, Experience, and Opportunity
All individuals and communities will experience the vitality of the arts!
About Us
Our Mission & Vision

Grow the Arts: Access, Experience, and Opportunity
The Tippecanoe Arts Federation is the umbrella organization and arts council for fourteen Indiana Counties (Tippecanoe, Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Howard, Jasper, Newton, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tipton, Warren, and White). TAF provides educational opportunities in the visual, performing, and literary arts, outreach programs for both underserved communities and youth, and funding for capital and operational expenses to fellow arts organizations region-wide. Established in 1976, the Tippecanoe Arts Federation serves as a model for arts advocacy by promoting the role of arts.
The Wells Community Cultural Center, located at 638 North Street in the Arts & Market Cultural District of Downtown Lafayette, is the home of TAF. The Wells Building offers three galleries, the Wells Reception Hall, meeting rooms, rehearsal rooms, and performance space. TAF is host and sponsor to many community events and arts groups. The Tippecanoe Arts Federation serves as the Region 4 Arts Partner of the Indiana Arts Commission. Through this partnership, TAF provides grants, information and referral services, and technical assistance to individuals and organizations.
TAF believes that:
- Art enlivens experience, fuels creativity, builds understanding of self and community, sharpens the mind, widens perception, challenges assumptions, and nurtures the spirit.
- Art is a public and individual good; experience through exposure and participation benefits all.
- People and communities should all benefit from the arts regardless of their location, origin, culture or economic circumstances.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Tippecanoe Arts Federation works to ensure all individuals and communities experience the vitality of the arts. Moreover, we recognize that many existing systems of power grant privilege and access to the arts unequally. Equity is crucial to the long-term viability of both the arts and our communities. We believe that everyone can benefit from the arts. Reflecting the rich diversity of the communities we serve, the arts we support must embody differences of race, ethnicity, age, disability, size, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship, immigrant status, and religion.
We believe that every individual, adult or child, should see themselves in the work we do and the arts we support. We believe in fostering an inclusive environment in which different backgrounds, perspectives, neurodiversity, and experiences are heard, valued, and respected. At TAF, we believe that the arts should be accessible to everyone in the 14-county region we serve: Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Howard, Jasper, Newton, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Warren, and White Counties.
At TAF we commit to serve inclusively and with intentionality. We actively seek to partner with organizations that serve communities that have been historically diverse, under-served and socioeconomically isolated. TAF commits to strengthening relationships with stakeholders and communities within the area it serves, recognizing that “communities” extends beyond geographical areas and includes a broad range of diversity as a core part of our mission.
TAF commits to working with artists, organizations and communities, especially those who are marginalized by our society, centering them as the agents of creating the community where everyone can live and thrive–a world where Black Lives Matter and No Body is Disposable. We commit to providing access to the arts to our community members and value the variety of experiences that have formed our community members.
To this end, TAF believes in the importance of developing and utilizing strategies that champion diversity, pursue equity, foster inclusion, and ensure accessibility, especially for those who are underserved. We apply this by holding ourselves accountable through intentionally and continuously reviewing our organizational structure, policies, operational practices, fundraising, programming, and services for equity and diverse representation. Where there is under-representation, we will actively reach out to communities and develop strategies for elevating their voices and cultural representations. We believe that by embracing our differences, we enhance our work, the arts sector, our communities, and the world.
Board of Directors
Executive Committee:
David Huhnke, President
David Stein, VP of Sustainability
Stepheney Bible, VP of Engagement
Laura Kendall, Treasurer
Blake Walberts, Secretary
Members:
Donnie Alexander
Lydia Coppedge
Melissa Gruver
Jos Holman
William McInerney
Christopher Munt
Michelle Rainey
Pat Rosen
Tenecia Waddell-Pyle
Cameron Ward
Ex-Officio Members:
Sheila Klinker
Tony Roswarski
John Dennis
Tom Murtaugh
Staff
Regional Arts Partnership/Regional Advisory Council
The Regional Arts Partnership is a network of 11 regions of Indiana, developed by the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) to enhance the delivery of arts services and to move the decision-making about state and federal arts funding closer to the arts community and the arts consumer. Region 4 is the largest geographical partnership in the state. Serving a population of over 525,000, Tippecanoe Arts Federation (TAF) has proudly served as Region 4 Arts Partner of the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) since 1997.
Benton
Karen Moyars
khmoyars@gmail.com
Clinton
Jamie Anderson
janderson@myfcpl.org
Jasper
Judy Kanne
ja@rhsi.tv
Pulaski
Anne Rebeck
annerebeck@gmail.com
Warren
Sharon Hutchison
shutchison@tippecanoe.in.gov
Carroll
Wyndham Traxler Carter
wdtc@embarqmail.com
Fountain
Nancy Wagner
stepatatime.2001@att.net
Newton
Judy Wetli
judywetli9954@gmail.com
Tippecanoe
Scott Tracey
stracey@wlaf.lib.in.us
White
Open
TAF Board Rep.
Bill McInerney
Cass
Lisa Terry
lisadterry71@gmail.com
Howard
Dave Broman
dave.broman@howardcountymuseum.org
Montgomery
Open
Tipton
Kendra Hummel
khummel@tiptonpl.org
Tippecanoe Arts Federation
Tetia Lee
tetial@tippecanoearts.org
Regional Advisory Council Membership Information
Purpose of the Regional Advisory Council
The Regional Advisory Council serves in an advisory capacity to the Tippecanoe Arts Federation on matters that affect planning, delivery, and evaluation of the four core services: cultural planning, grants making and grants management, information and referral, and technical assistance.
In forming recommendations for the Tippecanoe Arts Federation (TAF) board, the advisory council will consider the needs of the region as a whole and the resources of the RAP available to meet those needs. The vision is that arts organizations will have better access to services at the regional level, and individuals will have better access to the arts at the community level.
Membership
The council consists of a group of citizens with expertise and interest in the arts, non-profit management, and/or community development. The council is composed of one voting representative from each of the counties in the region. Non-voting members include a TAF Board Member and the TAF CEO.
Terms of Service
Council members serve three year terms.
Duties and Responsibilities
The council members will, at a minimum, carry out the following duties:
- Represent their county’s interests with regard to the general well-being of the arts and culture of the entire fourteen-county region
- Assist in cultural needs assessment
- Suggest revisions to regional services programs based on needs assessment
- Review and approve grant guidelines, funding formula, and review criteria and process
Attendance
The RAC meets on a quarterly basis in the months of March, June, September, and December.
Open Seats
Interested persons may apply to serve as RAC members by contacting tetial@tippecanoearts.org