Isaiah Pirtle - President
Commercial Relationship Manager - First Interstate Bank
With over 14 years of experience in banking, Isaiah brings deep financial expertise and a steadfast commitment to community development. Throughout their career, they have empowered both individuals and businesses to achieve their financial goals by delivering tailored banking solutions and guidance with integrity and care. Known for a consultative approach and strong relationship-building skills, Isaiah excels in navigating complex financial landscapes and fostering long-term client success.
Beyond the numbers, Isaiah is passionate about driving positive change in the community. They actively engage in local initiatives, champion small businesses, and advocate for financial literacy. Their dedication to service, strategic insight, and collaborative leadership make them a valuable asset on any board.
When not in the office or volunteering, Isaiah enjoys golfing, snowboarding, and basketball. A devoted sports fan, they love watching all kinds of games—especially cheering for the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Above all, Isaiah treasures time spent with their family.
Lauren Grask - Vice President
Corridor Business Journal
Moving to Cedar Rapids at a young age, I have always felt a connection to the community and the surrounding corridor. My family has had ties to Cedar Rapids since starting a family business in the 1970s and I have always appreciated the city’s commitment to the arts through our amazing public schools, community programs, theater programs, and more. After graduating from Washington High School and the University of Iowa, with a brief stint in Des Moines, I moved back to Cedar Rapids to settle in and start my life. Starting off in the world of insurance and then moving into the world of sales at the Corridor Business Journal, I am the Event Sales Manager and have been able to work with many of our amazing companies in the corridor. I am a proud supporter of the arts in the community by also sitting on the board for the Revival Theatre Company, and look forward to growing my involvement with the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy. I enjoy live music, films, exploring new place and cities, spending time with family and friends, and hanging with my pets, Theo and Tobias
David Maier - Treasurer
David is a certified public accountant and recently retired after a 35-year career in
finance, accounting, and audit. Since moving from Chicago to Cedar Rapids in 2018,
David has become a recognized leader in the community, serving as Treasurer on
several nonprofit boards (Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, CSPS, Revival Theatre
Company, CR Pride). He is currently a member of Cedar Rapids West Rotary and an
active volunteer for numerous local nonprofits. David also serves on the Cedar Rapids
City Council.
David lives in a restored 100-year-old home with his husband, Cedar Rapids native Matt
McGrane, along with their senior rescue dog Buddy and a lucky black cat Bandit.
William Rings - Secretary
Will grew up in Cedar Rapids and attended elementary school at Eastern Iowa Arts Academy's new home, Arthur. Participating in various ways growing up, Will has always been a fan of the arts and recognizes the unique connection to community that the arts can provide. He was drawn to the Academy out of desire to support inclusion and makes sure everyone has a chance to experience the sense of belonging and self expression that the arts can provide.
Shawnacy Kiker Perez
Professor - Kirkwood Community College
Shawnacy Kiker Perez is a California-born writer, artist, and teacher. She holds a BA in Spanish language and literature from California State University at Fullerton, and an MFA in Creative Writing with a specialization in fiction and poetry from the University of California, Riverside. She is a full-time professor in the Communications, English, and Media Department at Kirkwood Community College, teaching courses in composition and literature via various modalities.
In addition to Kirkwood, Shawnacy has taught writing classes with the University of Iowa's International Writing Program, California Marymount University, Black Hawk College, Upward Bound, and 826LA. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in numerous online and print journals, and her chapbook of poetry Untitled States was recently published by Dancing Girl Press.
Shawnacy further supports the literary and visual arts as the founding and managing editor of CHARGE Magazine), an online journal of embodied conversation. She has contributed to numerous literary readings, workshops, and groups including The Table Reading Series, 90X90, Rockwell's Camera Phone, and The Hook.
As a visual artist, Shawnacy enjoys working with multimedia and has taught art journaling classes through the Garden Grove Library, Make Space, and the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy. Her current passion is altered-book and altered-canvas art.
Additionally, Shawnacy has served as manager to the Laguna Beach-based artist and musician, Marius Manea, and has assisted in the production of art shows such as the Chocolate and Art Show in Los Angeles, Awake and Dreaming at the Benko Art Gallery in Lake Tahoe, and is scheduled to participate in the Bombay Beach Literary and Art festival in Bombay Beach California, early next year.
Shawnacy is a fierce ally and advocate for the LGBTQ community with particular emphasis on protecting trans youth, and is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion on all levels. Serving the community is a priority for Shawnacy and she currently serves on the Education board at the Catherine McAuley Center, and works as a volunteer English tutor for Immigrant and refugee students.
Katie Kula, CRPC®
Chief Compliance Officer
Director of Operations
Founding Partner - Basepoint Wealth, LLC
Serving in the capacity of Basepoint's Chief Compliance Officer and Director of
Operations is multifaceted, fast paced, and detailed. It is also a perfect fit for Katie,
whose leadership and organizational skills are second to none. Katie serves as one of
Basepoint's founding partners, and has been working with the managing partners since
2011.
Behind the scenes in Operations and Compliance, everything we do affects the client’s
experience, and our goal is always to make it better. Katie strives to ensure that our
team members have what they need to serve our clients, and that they are following our
policies and procedures. A motto Katie believes strongly: "the little things matter".
Katie grew up in Bertram, attended McKinley Middle School, and graduated from
Washington High School in Cedar Rapids before attending the University of Northern
Iowa majoring in History. She now makes her home in Marion, Iowa with her three
young children.
An accomplished and talented musician herself, playing guitar, piano, and singing, Katie
also enjoys attending performing arts events with friends and family. You can also find
her spinning her own yarn and crocheting, crafting, baking, reading, and gardening.
Katie has been volunteering with Eastern Iowa Arts Academy since March 2025 and
has really enjoyed being a part of such an amazing and impactful organization.
Amy Friedl
Amy Friedl is an accomplished and versatile vocalist born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In the past 12 years, Amy has produced numerous sold-out cabaret shows in Eastern Iowa, and in several major cities across the US, catapulting her performing career. Amy made her Carnegie Hall debut in May 2018 as a featured performer in All the Way: The Music of Jimmy Van Heusen, which was produced by the Mabel Mercer Foundation. Amy has been warmly received in notable venues such as the famous Birdland Jazz Club (NYC), Don’t Tell Mama (NYC), Davenport’s (Chicago), Gaslight Theatre (St. Louis), Blue Strawberry (St. Louis), and Noce (Des Moines). In March 2017, she debuted her show Dreamchaser to rave reviews at the famed Metropolitan Room in NYC.
Locally, you may have seen Amy performing at Brucemore’s Cabaret in the Courtyard, CSPS, Opus Concert Café, and her annual Christmas Concert at the Paramount Theatre. She has been a featured soloist with Orchestra Iowa as well as the Belleville Philharmonic. No stranger to the stage, she has been a frequent leading lady in many Theatre Cedar Rapids & Revival Theatre Company productions over the last 15 years. Favorite roles include: Maria in Sound of Music, Eva Perón in Evita, Diana in Next To Normal, Mother in Ragtime, and Cathy in The Last 5 Years.
Visit amystonermusic.com (new website coming soon!) or find Amy on Facebook or Instagram @amyfriedlmusic.
Chastity Angelique
Advocate. Storyteller. Visionary. Educator. Chastity serves as a Special Education Paraeducator and a middle school Drama Director in the Cedar Rapids community. Chastity is a fierce champion for the arts, especially when it comes to providing access to creative opportunities for our youth. She has an initiative called Spotlight Our Youth- Educate, Participate, and Invest in Arts Education, where she has done workshops, been a keynote speaker, and held an Arts Education library tour across Iowa. When she is not speaking with national, state, and local leaders about preserving the arts in our schools, you can find her watching anime, sampling the newest cuisine at a local restaurant, performing, or reading. Chastity is excited to be on the board for Eastern Arts Academy, as it is home for many of her students!
Josh Ross
Josh Ross moved to Cedar Rapids in 2008, just before the floods, and began carving out a path as a solo musician and performer with local bands. During that time, he played nearly every venue in the city and used his music to support the community’s rebuilding process by booking shows downtown, supporting local venues, and helping drive business back into the heart of the city. Along the way, he built lasting relationships in the arts community that not only kept him rooted in music but also opened doors to new entrepreneurial ventures.
During these early years, Josh was not only performing across Cedar Rapids but also building his first company, CablePro Installations. Balancing long days of hands-on work with nights spent on stage, Josh grew CablePro from the ground up. The trust, relationships, and reputation he built through the music and arts community played a key role in the success of CablePro, and ultimately helped lay the foundation for the many businesses he would go on to build, businesses that now give back to the same community that supported him.
Today, Josh is a successful entrepreneur who has stayed deeply connected to the arts through his businesses. Along with his business partners, Josh runs a music festival, owns an event center for gatherings of all kinds, designed to provide a spacious, comfortable, and affordable venue for the community. He also leads Mango Mustache, an event company specializing in music production, film, live events, and content creation. Through his service on the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy board, he is committed to helping adults and children in his community to explore their own artistic journeys and achieve their goals.
Josh and his wife, Racheal, along with their children, Hazel and Gavin, are passionate supporters of local music and arts events. Together, they host, sponsor, and partner on community events such as FarmFreshReggae, Blocktoberfest, the annual SaPaDaPaSo St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and Mango Mustache’s annual free Haunted house and trick-or-treating. For Josh, being a part of the Academy is not only about furthering its mission of equitable arts access and empowerment, but also about celebrating the creativity and community spirit that first drew him to the Eastern Iowa arts scene.