Venetia Stifler - Executive Director

Venetia Stifler became the Executive Director of The Ruth Page Foundation in 2000. This position was created specifically to assure that the original vison of dance pioneer Ruth Page be sustained for the the 21st century. Since becoming Executive Director, Ms. Stifler has established two new Foundation initiatives: The Ruth Page Center, an arts center which provides low cost theater and space rental as well as workshops to professional performing artists. And the Center's In-Residence Program which provides a home for performing companies. Since 1991, she has served as the Artistic Director of the Ruth Page Dance Series which is produced in association with Northeastern Illinois University. In 1999, she took the series to Edinburgh, Scotland, to perform and received positive reviews from the Scottish press. The performance in Scotland were part of a larger project, the Ruth Page Centennial Celebration, in which she acted as the Coordinator and Producer for the year long series of dance events honoring Ms. Page's career.

Trained as a dancer, Ms. Stifler has had significant experience as a performer, choreographer, teacher, producer and administrator. As a dancer, she worked with a number of choreographers including Bill Evans and Charles Weidman, performing throughout the country including New York and Chicago. Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times called Ms. Stifler a stunning performer with "a magnetic stage presence." In 1980, she was a founding board member of the Chicago Dance Coalition, serving first, as its Vice President, then as President. In 1982, she became the Artist in Residence at Mundelein College in Chicago, where she rehearsed and performed with her company, Concert Dance, Inc. As a choreographer, she was awarded the Ruth Page Award in 1986 for The Chicago Project, an evening long work which explores Chicago's rich architectural heritage. In 1987 she joined the faculty of Northeastern Illinois University as the Coordinator of Dance and went on to Chair the Department of Music and the Dance Program from 1993-1998.

Ms. Stifler has served on the advisory councils of the Illinois Arts Council and the Chicago Office of Fine Arts. Her work has been funded by government agencies and private sponsors. Stifler holds a Ph.D. in Dance and Choreography.