Raised in Phoenix, I experienced the arts through regularly scheduled field trips to performances and museums at my public grade and high schools. The result of those experiences was a passion for the arts, recognizing that the arts experiences through my school made me wonder, thinking curiously. There definitely was a spark!
College took me down the healthcare path, becoming a nurse in Tucson after graduating from the University of Arizona. For 30 years, my husband and I lived in Tucson. I embraced clinically practicing and eventually teaching nursing at my alma mater. There was still this spark.
Moving to Phoenix, the opportunity to acquire the publishing company, then called Programs for the Arts, was made available. Although I was being considered for a nursing faculty position at Arizona State University, being involved with the publishing company intrigued me, as I would be finally connected with the arts. The spark!
My role with the organization, now called ON Media, has evolved to publisher/CEO. In 2005, the company was small, publishing for 12 arts groups in Phoenix and Tucson. We now publish for nearly 30 visual and performing arts groups, at no charge to those arts groups, thanks to businesses that want to message to the arts patron demographic. My curiosity centered on how to guide the ON Media team in the creation of a printed program that would be as notably memorable as the production on the stage. Great cities have great arts, and the printed program is an integral part
of the arts experience. New and creative additions, such as the Arts Hero program, the monthly section and ON Stage, are examples of thinking curiously.
In 2016, ON Media acquired The Red Book. Since the acquisition, the book has evolved to be more expansive in its coverage and the website and newsletter have grown in content areas and readership. In 2017, ON Media team launched The Red Book magazine. In its third year of publication, The Red Book magazine is direct mailed to the homes of 24,000 high-net-worth individuals in the Valley. This product has been embraced by the recipients. I am always looking for ways to bring the arts and businesses together for the betterment of all.
Back to school days and wonder… In 2011, my husband, Russ, and I launched Act One. Having been raised attending field trips to the arts in public school, we learned that those life-changing field trips no longer are part of a student’s education, particularly those students in Title One schools. We know that the arts taught us to think and wonder, so we started Act One to provide those same transformational experiences to underserved students in the Phoenix valley and in Tucson through the field trip program and the Culture Pass program with the libraries. This May, we
celebrated the 200,000th student to experience the arts through an Act One field trip, giving them the sense of wonder we had experienced. Wisdom does begin with wonder!
Company Name: ON Media
Main Office Address: 910 E. Osborn Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85014
Phone: (602) 445-7164
Website: www.onmediaaz.com
No. of Years with Firm: Purchased the company in 2005 from founder, Tucson artist Diana Madaras. Company was founded in 1976.
Year Established Locally: Headquartered in Phoenix since 2005, with an office in Tucson
