Meet our Board of Directors

PRESIDENT
Dr. Deepak Keshwani

VICE PRESIDENT
DeWayne Taylor

SECRETARY
Dr. Mary Kay Quinlan

Treasurer
Sonya Howdsen
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Sandra Williams
Kimberly Bazata Weeks
Andrea von Kampen
Dr. Pat Tetreault
Marie Amthor-Schuett
Harmony Rea
Oscar Rios Pohirieth
Dr. Darl Naumann
Rachel McConnell
Paul Durban
Bryan Daize
Dr. Jay Chipman
Carly Woythaler-Runestad
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​Becky Boesen


​Executive Director and Co-Founder

Becky Boesen has worked over 20 years in the arts, specializing in production, new works, education and engagement, and all things creative.   Becky is the co-founder and Executive Director of BLIXT, having formerly worked alongside Angels Theatre Company, Flatwater Shakespeare, Lied Center for Performing Arts, and multiple other arts nonprofits. Becky continues to provide expertise and support as a consultant to organizations and communities across the state, and delights in working as a playwright, director, actor, and producer. This spring, she will launch into her fourth year of teaching playwriting at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where she enjoys helping students learn about their craft and how to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset. She was named one of Lincoln Journal Star's "Top 20 under 40" business leaders, is an NEA award recipient for her original book and lyrics for the child hunger musical (with composer David von Kampen) PUDDIN' AND THE GRUMBLE, and was recently selected as a Chime Change Maker, a national honor bestowed upon 25 Americans committed to the pursuit of building stronger communities from within.  Reach out to Becky anytime here.

Marie Amthor-Schuett

Associate Artistic Director - Playwriting Fellowship

Marie Amthor Schuett is an award-winning Brazilian American playwright. Her play, Stuck with Lemons, was selected as a Semi-Finalist for the 2019 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Her one act play, Coming Up for Air, was featured in the Inge's Play Lab Series as well as the Great Plains Theatre Conference's Play Lab Series. It also won 3rd place at the Dubuque Fine Arts Players One Act Play Contest and Festival. She also wrote the book for her first musical, The Break, with music and lyrics by off-Broadway songwriting duo Amanda DiArchangelis and Sami Horneff as a result of receiving an Amplify Arts Grant.

Awards and nominations include Neighbors, Lovers and All the Others (OEAA Nominee), The Other Sewing Circle (TAG Outstanding New Script Award, OEAA Nominee),and L’Chaim co-written with Laura Leininger Campbell (TAG New Script Award, OEAA Nominee).

*TAG - Theatre Arts Guild
*OEAA - Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award



​Petra Wahlqvist

Co-Founder and Volunteer

Petra Wahlqvist, co-founder of Blixt Locally Grown, has over 15 years of experience as a project creator, educator, and producer. She has an extensive grant-writing record, including winning six consecutive awards from the National Endowment for the Arts for community engagement programs in the arts. She previously served as the Education Director at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, where she co-created projects with artists such as the Actors’ Gang, STREB, and Pilobolus, and curated and coordinated statewide performance tours. Petra teaches in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film at UNL. Before moving to Lincoln in 2008, Wahlqvist worked as a theatre maker on multiple international tours, and as a Performing Arts Specialist and Mentor with Artis, a performing arts education company in London, UK.

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