Staff

Rod Rubbo

President/CEO, theFund

Rod Rubbo came to San Antonio to take on the challenge of managing and expanding theFund’s efforts to raise money for 28 local, qualified, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in San Antonio. Before the call to San Antonio, Rod was president and CEO of the Cultural Center for the Arts in Canton, Ohio. While there, he was responsible for coordinating, planning, operating and managing the Cultural Center’s annual Fund for the Arts campaign and the center facilities.

Prior to his nearly 30-year career at the Cultural Center, Rod was General Manager of the Ohio Ballet, General Manager for the North Carolina Dance Theatre at the North Carolina School for the Arts, and Company Manager for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Rod earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1971 from the University of Oklahoma. He received Americans for the Arts Michael Newton Award for leadership in the united arts field in 2002.

Rod also gives of his time and expertise to national arts and cultural associations. He was the 2002-2004 National Chairman for the Americans for the Arts United Arts Fund Council. Prior to that, he served fourteen years on the Board of Trustees for the Council. Other affiliations include member Rotary club of San Antonio and Cultural Alliance of San Antonio.

Kathy LeMaster

Office Manager, theFund

Having grown up in Chicago during the time that I did, I had the benefit of experiencing a multitude of art and cultural opportunities throughout the city. In school, music and art were mandatory, and field trips to all the cities museums were an annual event.

Enjoying the arts have always been an important part of my family's life, so I have encouraged my own children and grandchildren to appreciate the arts and culture by visiting museums, plays, ballet, musical and cultural events and reading to them.

When my family first moved to San Antonio, my granddaughter quickly became involved in theatre, singing and dancing in musicals at Josephine Theatre. She also loves singing with her high school choir at Clark HIgh. The impact that involvement with art and music, has had on her cognitive, communication skills further impressed upon me how important the support of arts and culture in our community is.

I completely embrace and support the mission and vision of theFund. What a wonderful opportunity it is to be able to be an integral part in the growth of art and culture in San Antonio.

As Office Manager of theFund and the “other half” of the staff, I tend to the day to day administration of the office. My job is to make sure your contributions are accounted for and acknowledged promptly. I also, manage the website, the newletter, and maintenance of our database. If you ever have any questions, I am here to help.

Genevieve West (Jeannie)

Intern-Jeannie has found a job and is no longer with theFund as an intern, but still is with us in heart. Thank you Jeannie for all of your help. We miss you. 2/10/2010

When I grew up in my home country Germany, I was the creative one of my family. I collected items on walks to bring them home and do art projects with them. Water colors, crayons and cutting out things from catalogs were fun things that I could spend hours on. In my teenage years I discovered that being an art model pays well and also modeled for a catalog and a hair dresser. I learned to play keyboard and flute and my neighbor got entertained during his yard work by my singing!

When I became a preschool teacher I added playing guitar to my hobbies.

Since I came to the States in 2006 I have always worked in retail. My creative side unfortunately came almost to a halt since I first had to figure everything out.

March 2009 was the climax, I got an “itch” and felt like I had to escape retail. I came to the realization that it was creativity and culture that was missing in my profession and so I quit a job for the first time in my life without having another job lined up.

When I saw that TheFund was looking for a volunteer I was excited because it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for! When I found out about the 28 affiliates, I was even more excited because they would provide such a big variety of art and culture!

Of course I have my FUNd card and since I have been working here I discovered so many new things, have been to places and have used my FUNd card plenty! I am really happy working here and very thankful that Rod and Kathy are having me. Unfortunately they can not hire an additional employee because otherwise I would definitely like to apply!

My journey goes on in finding a job in the office in the artistic or cultural field and I know that it will work out eventually. Until then I am very happy about how far I have come and appreciate opportunities that are coming my way.