Longtime Altus resident and community leader Jeff Greenlee has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain (OAI). This statewide nonprofit organization administers programs in the literary, visual, and performing arts at Quartz Mountain, including the Summer and Fall Arts Institute. Greenlee has served on the OAI board since 2009, and his three sons have all attended the Summer Institute.
“For many years, Jeff has been extremely generous to OAI with his time and resources,” said Julie Cohen, OAI president and CEO. “His energy and enthusiasm make him a natural leader, and I am thrilled that our board elected Jeff to be our chairman.”
Greenlee’s involvement with OAI began when his son Adam was selected for the Summer Arts Institute as a film and video student. Over the years, two more sons, Alex and Todd, also participated in the program.
“I became aware of the quality programs offered by the Oklahoma Arts Institute in the 1980s through the participation of highly talented students from my hometown of Holdenville,” Greenlee said. “I became a real fan of the Arts Institute after seeing the quality of instruction that my three sons were fortunate to receive as attendees of the summer program.”
Greenlee would go on to volunteer for the Oklahoma Arts Institute Fund Drive, a grassroots fundraiser in southwest Oklahoma that raises tens of thousands of dollars each year for OAI programs. He has served on the OAI Finance, Endowment & Audit Committee and has represented the Arts Institute as one of the Governor’s appointed trustees to the Quartz Mountain Arts & Conference Center board.
“OAI is supported through a very unique and successful partnership of private and public funding,” Greenlee said. “It allows Oklahoma high school students as well as educators to receive the premier in arts education from nationally recognized instructors at the outstanding facilities at Quartz Mountain.”
While the OAI board of directors is filled with prominent arts supporters from across the state, it has always enjoyed a strong representation from Altus. Emeritus member Ken Fergeson served as chair from 1998-2001, with Altusians Helon LaGree and Jeff Wilmes also on the emeritus board. Current board members from Altus are Nancy Cox and Mary Kruska. Greenlee’s current term as board chair will run until December 31, 2014.
The Oklahoma Arts Institute is a private, non-profit organization developed in 1977, with a mission to provide exceptional multidisciplinary arts experiences that develop individual talent and inspire a lifelong passion for the arts. OAI administers a program for talented Oklahoma youth every June and a series of continuing education workshops for adults every fall.
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