Meet BelRed Arts District Community Alliance’s Interim Director: Amy Wheeler

Amy Wheeler's passion for collaboration and creativity fuels her work as a nonprofit arts leader and consultant, educator, theatre artist and creative entrepreneur. In all these spheres, she is committed to the work of equity, and empowering the voices of artists of all ages and lived experiences.

As Executive Director of Hedgebrook, the renowned writer’s residency on Whidbey Island, Amy led its evolution over 13 years from a beloved local nonprofit into a global community of influential female-identified writers authoring change in the arts, culture and social justice. Celebrating the culmination of her tenure, Seattle Arts & Lectures recognized Wheeler with the 2020 Prowda Literary Champion Award for “demonstrating true commitment to the Pacific Northwest’s community of readers and writers.”

Currently, Amy works with arts nonprofits locally and in California through her consultancy and as a Senior Associate with the Valtas Group. A Yaddo fellow and Hedgebrook alum, Amy holds an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts, where she teaches creative writing and artistic research, and an MFA from the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She is an adjunct professor in Seattle University’s MFA Arts Leadership program.

A nationally produced and published playwright, Amy lives in a historic dancehall on Whidbey, lovingly restored by her wife, artist and creative partner Kate Buzard.