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Julia Messina to retire, Sara O'Dell to lead NCI ARTworks
Press Release- For immediate release
Contact Julia Messina, NCI ARTworks outreach@nciartworks.com or 815-866-5167
PERU, IL (Monday, May 4, 2026) – The NCI ARTworks Board announces the retirement of executive director Julia Mautino Messina and welcomes new leadership
Julia Messina has been leading the creative team at NCI ARTworks since 2021. Over the past five years, she and the dedicated Board and staff have:- helped bring world-class musicians to local schools and provided rural schools with music instruments
- offered free public concerts with our Christmas and Summer Tubafest series and ensemble concerts
- showcased over 160 emerging and affirmed local, regional, and national artists
- hosted 65 professional level exhibitions at the NCI ARTworks Gallery
- provided approximately 210k of revenue to local, regional, and national artists
- conducted a cash-award juried art show, emerging artist shows, and youth art shows
- brought in the White House Senior Policy Analyst, Peter Gaumond, for the Trauma & Recovery exhibition and published 2 books: “The Life & Art of Father Joseph Heyd, O.S.B.” and “From Harm to Hope, A Multi-Artist Retrospective of Trauma & Recovery”
- built partnerships with other local galleries and venues to showcase local & regional artists
- developed annual fundraising tours focused on art and culture in the USA and abroad
- celebrated and recognized the top talent at the high school level in the tri-county area
- partnered with local municipalities to host summer art camps and offered workshops and classes
Sara O’Dell has been selected to lead NCI ARTworks as the Executive Director, continuing to grow and improve this important regional nonprofit that hosts art exhibitions, music events, and facilitates the creation of public art installations in LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam counties.
Sara brings a wealth of community volunteer experience to her position as the NCI ARTworks Executive Director. A longtime advocate for the arts, Sara’s focus has been primarily on the music component of the NCI ARTworks mission, assisting both at NCI ARTworks-sponsored music events and at the LP High School music program. She is expanding her artistic repertoire to include the visual arts as she has been helping to curate and organize art exhibits at the NCI ARTworks gallery in Peru.
Sara attended Michigan State University and Southern Illinois University. After moving to the Illinois Valley in 2007, she has led the STEM program at a local summer day camp since 2017, where she shares her expertise in science and technology. Outside of her professional work, she is an avid traveler and outdoor enthusiast. Sara notes that, “I am delighted to keep the NCI Artworks mission moving forward bringing the arts to everyone in our community and showcasing our very talented artists.”
In addition to welcoming its new Executive Director, NCI ARTworks welcomes Don Grant Zellmer to the NCI ARTworks creative team. Don will be responsible for developing and curating arts and cultural events and trips to help sustain the mission of NCI ARTworks.
Don’s background as a group tour travel expert and his many decades as a professional entertainer will ensure that local art & culture lovers who travel with NCI ARTworks have the most enjoyable experiences at local, regional, national, and international music and theater performances. Don has taken groups from NCIArtworks to New York for Broadway tours in the past and will continue that very popular tour.
Zellmer was a director/choreographer/featured performer for Cargill Productions, NYC. For 20 years, he owned and operated Zellmer’s Dinner Theatre in the Peoria, IL area, and spent two seasons headlining two shows in Branson, MO. He and partner Dr. David Kuester have operated the Follies Theatre in Utica and Yorkville, and for 21 years, Don was the Director & Choreographer of Musical Theatre at IVCC (Illinois Valley Community College).
Zellmer said, “As a long-time supporter of NCIArtworks, this is a sterling opportunity to combine a lot of elements that are in my ‘wheelhouse,’ combining entertainment and group travel, as well as fundraising for such a worthwhile and integral part of the Illinois Valley.”
According to former NCI ARTworks Executive Director, Julia Mautino Messina, “I am confident that NCI Artworks is destined to continue to flourish under new, talented leadership and guided by a board that cares deeply about our mission to build community through art.”
