Business and civic leaders with deep community involvement will provide valuable new perspectives

Monday July 21, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS – The Eiteljorg Museum is proud to welcome new members to its Board of Directors and Community Board of Advisors. With their breadth of experiences, the new directors and advisors will provide valuable guidance to the museum. Their terms began July 1.

“At the Eiteljorg, we are honored to welcome new Board members whose deep expertise and commitment to cultural stewardship will strengthen our ability to deliver the museum’s mission,” said Eiteljorg President and CEO Kathryn Haigh. “Their leadership across fields like finance, technology, human resources and the arts brings invaluable perspective to our work, especially as we continue to uplift Native American and Western art and stories. These new voices will help shape the museum’s future, expand our reach, and ensure that we create a space for dialogue, learning and inspiration.”

The Eiteljorg’s Board of Directors consists of 34 members who oversee the museum’s finances and set policy. Directors serve up to three terms of three years each. Two new directors join six who served on the Community Board of Advisors last year:

• Angie Darlington is vice president-secretary of Avis Industrial Corporation. Having previously served as an Eiteljorg director, Darlington is also on the museum’s Finance Council.
• Richard D. Feldman, M.D., a family physician and former Indiana state health commissioner, is program director emeritus at the Franciscan Health Indianapolis Family Medicine Residency. A frequently invited speaker and author of books and articles, he is a well-known Indiana newspaper editorial columnist. Dr. Feldman previously served as an Eiteljorg director and is a member of the museum’s Collections Council.
• Jon Haug is senior vice president and treasurer at Eli Lilly and Company. Haug, who holds an MBA and a law degree, leads a global team of professionals responsible for Lilly’s balance sheet, capital planning, insurance, pension and investments, and evaluations of business development.
• Bryn Jackson is an artist, curator and cultural advisor whose nationally recognized work has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Arts Midwest, and others. He is an inaugural member of the Association of Art Museum Curators Professional Alliance for Curators of Color, and serves on the Board of Step-Up Inc. Jackson chairs the museum’s Collections Council and previously served on the Community Board of Advisors.
• Eduardo Nieto is an HR business partner at Capital Group whose HR expertise includes talent management, employee relations and compensation. In 2023, he co-emceed the All In Allyship Summit, and in 2024, was recognized by EmployIndy for advancing youth workforce readiness. Nieto chairs the museum’s Council for Belonging and previously served on the Community Board of Advisors.
• Steve Reising is senior vice president/relationship strategist at PNC Private Bank. His career spans a variety of industries and disciplines, including sales, marketing, finance and management. He has dedicated much of his free time to working with several different nonprofit organizations.
• Allison Taylor is chief advocacy and public policy officer of Ascension St. Vincent and previously served as general counsel of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration and then as Indiana’s Medicaid director. An executive leadership and performance coach, Taylor enjoys working with individuals and teams on creative and values-based leadership. Taylor chairs the museum’s Community Engagement Task Force and previously served on the Community Board of Advisors.
• Cathy Turner is a retired longtime supporter of the Eiteljorg Museum and a Guide since 1999. She has served as a museum director and advisor, is a member of the museum’s Western Art Society, co-chaired its former fundraiser the Buckaroo Bash, and is currently chair of the annual Quest for the West® Art Show and Sale.

The Eiteljorg Board of Directors also elected new officers:

• Don Woodley (Ojibwe) was re-elected as an officer and will serve as Board chair. As co-founder and principal of the investment management firm Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management, Woodley has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including the Indianapolis Arts Center and Humane Society of Indianapolis.
• Cynthia C. Hoye rejoins the Board officers as first vice chair. Hoye has more than 36 years of marketing and leadership experience, serving as both executive director and marketing director of the Indiana State Fair Commission. She is co-chair of the Eiteljorg Indian Market & Festival.
• John W. Timothy, Jr., M.D., (Muscogee [Creek] Nation), previously the Board’s secretary, was elected as the Board’s second vice chair. Dr. Timothy also is co-chair of the Eiteljorg Indian Market & Festival and also serves on the Collections Council.
• Sue Back, a longtime director, continues another term as Board treasurer. She is a retired certified public accountant and chartered global management accountant, having served as the managing director at Pile CPAs in Indianapolis. She chairs the museum’s Finance Council and serves on its Investment Council.
• Ginger Merkel was elected the Board’s secretary. She is managing director at Wells Fargo Advisors and serves as a volunteer and board member for other civic groups and arts organizations. At the Eiteljorg, Merkel is a member of the museum’s Western Art Society and Executive Committee and will chair the Governance Council. She was co-chair of the Development Council.

The Eiteljorg’s Community Board of Advisors consists of 26 dedicated community leaders who provide important insight and context to museum staff and the Board of Directors. Their terms are one year. The museum welcomes these four new advisors:

• Sean R. Anker serves as chief technology officer at WFYI Public Media, where he leads strategic initiatives across broadcast engineering, cybersecurity, IT and digital distribution. Before joining WFYI, he held senior technology roles at WFXT in Boston and spent 15 years in New Mexico, where he led analog-to-digital transitions and statewide broadcast system redesigns.
• Patte Owings is an artistic photographer whose works are in select museum collections and publications, such as the Eiteljorg, the Lilly House at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, and the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University. Owings will co-chair the Eiteljorg Development Council.
• Heather Reilly Murphy worked in commercial real estate development for REI Real Estate Services where she serves on its board of directors. She currently serves on the Williams Creek Town Council and is a past board member of Park Tudor School.
• Diane Thompson is retired from Eli Lilly, and since then has applied her expertise in strategic planning and business integration to support several nonprofit organizations, including serving as an Eiteljorg volunteer. She is a member of the museum’s Western Art Society.

Two Board of Directors members were honored with Emeritus Director status:

• Pat Anker, a longtime Board member and former Board chair, has served on the museum’s Collections, Development and Governance councils and the Executive and Strategic Planning committees, and is a past co-chair of the Indian Market & Festival.
• Chris Katterjohn, a former president and publisher of the Indianapolis Business Journal, is a longtime Board member and former Board chair and has served on the museum’s Governance Council (and was its chair in 2014), as well as the Executive Committee and Finance, Human Resources and Marketing councils.

Three current Directors are completing their terms and move to the Community Board of Advisors:

• L.G. Edwards is a retired banking executive and former Board chair. He is a member of the museum’s Western Art Society and served on the Executive Committee.
• Bonnie A. Reilly served on the Collections and Governance councils.
• Joan SerVaas is president of the Saturday Evening Post Society. An advocate for public health issues, SerVaas spearheaded the effort to place portable defibrillators in every high school in the state. She served on the museum’s Governance and Marketing councils.

The museum thanks them for their Board service. The Eiteljorg also thanks the directors and advisors who recently concluded their service and have rotated off their respective boards: Chris Eck, Tammy L. Cooper, Ph.D., Patty Gibbs, Fritz Gordner, Lynnette Hanes, Frances Kelly and Susie Maxwell.

About the Eiteljorg
For more than 35 years, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of Indianapolis and scenic White River State Park. The Eiteljorg Museum explores the intersection of the arts, histories and cultures of the past and present by sharing the diverse stories of the American West and the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Located on the Central Canal at 500 West Washington St., the Eiteljorg is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Images and Captions

Photo arrays of the headshots of the members of the Board of Directors, Community Advisory Board members, and Board officers and Emeritus Board members are attached.

Eiteljorg Museum Media Contacts:
Bryan Corbin
Public Relations Manager
317.275.1315
bcorbin@eiteljorg.com

Katie Warthan
Director of Communications and Marketing
317.275.1317
kwarthan@eitejorg.com

Anna Grace Hargett
Marketing and Communications Intern
317.275.1367
ahargett@eiteljorg.com