Project Staff

Ms. Franzen is both an educator and a professional classical musician. Her work in the arts has included television, film, radio, new media, and live performance. As the leader of the Madison Campus Arts education program and Madison Project since their inception, Ms. Franzen’s breadth of experience is helping to create this unique cultural institution for the Westside community. Ms. Franzen was recently appointed to Arkansas Govenor Huckabee’s Education Commission of the States, a prestigious panel on the status of arts in education.

Adam Philipson, Assistant Director, Madison Project.

Adam Philipson, Assistant Director of the Madison Project of Santa Monica College (Acting) has been with the project since it began. He produces the highly acclaimed and ecclectic Madison Performance Series — free arts education and community concerts in Santa Monica for the past 7 years. In addition to cultivating artists, he raises funds and coordinates the educational components. Adam also is the Managing Director for one of the community outreach programs called Opera Camp in which young students are trained in the art of opera. Mr. Philipson will manage the Visual and Performing Arts Center and the 541-seat main stage theater once it is open in 2007.

Adam has a background in theater and television for over 20 years. Most notable was a year-long run on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound where he played the lead role of Eugene Morris Jerome and also appeared in the national tour of John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation.

Denise Leader Stoeber, Operations Manager.

Operations Manager, Denise Leader Stoeber was born in London, emigrating with her family to California in the mid-1960’s as a teenager. After completing high school at Beverly Hills High she went on to earn a BA in “Theatre in Education” from UC Santa Cruz and from there to New York to pursue acting. While awaiting stardom Denise began what eventually became a very successful jewelry business as designer/jeweler, with her pieces included in several celebrity collections, and sold all over the world in galleries and boutiques. In 1999, Denise returned to school and earned an MBA at USC. She has combined the on-the-job experience of running her own business with the formal business acumen acquired at USC in the service of advancing non-profit organizations as diverse as USC’s Entertainment Technology Center, Teen Line, The Arroyo Heritage Theatre, and the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park.

During her three and a half years at the Madrid Theatre, Denise held the General Manager position. Under her management, the Madrid expanded its bookings from around 60 usage days per year to more than 290 usage days. Among her accomplishments was the development of creative rental agreements to encourage producers and artists to present additional performances for school children. Denise has served on the Boards of Main Street Canoga Park, Teen Line, and the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival. She lives in Los Angeles with her son, Carl Stoeber, a singer/songwriter with the band “Mudluscious”.

Debra Locke, Administrative Assistant II.

Debra jointed us in October 2005 and is the newest member of the team. She is the Director’s assistant and primarily runs the Madison Project office, including the Madison Minute (the projects email news blast).; Debra previously worked on campus for the Community Services Office, TRIO and the Career Services Center. Additionally, Debra also has a background in advertising and marketing. Debra can be contacted on Extension 3412 or at locke_debra@smc.edu.

Santa Monica College Administration

The Madison Project is coordinated through the Office of Planning and Development. Facility planning is under the direction of the College Executive Vice President. Academic programming is under the direction of the College Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Chui L. Tsang, SMC Superintendent/President
Randal Lawson, SMC Executive Vice President
Marvin Martinez, Vice President, Planning and Development
Donald Girard, Senior Director, Government Relations and Institutional Communications
David Muller, SMC Associate Vice President of Facilities
Greg Brown, SMC Director of Facilities Planning
Jeffrey Peterson, SMC Director of Operations
Charlie Yen, SMC Director of Events and Contracts

Madison Site Theater Architect

Renzo Zecchetto Architects is a design-oriented architectural firm located in Santa Monica, California. The firm’s work includes complex projects in this country and abroad, ranging from private residences to multi-million dollar institutional, civic, and cultural projects. Renzo Zecchetto, AIA is a licensed architect in the state of California and has been in professional practice for over 19 years.

Building Project Team

LPI, Inc.: Lee Paul, Tim Mawhinney
FTR International: Sam Khedraki and Paul Hogan

Santa Monica College Staff

Community Relations, Events, Marketing, and Special Project staffs regularly help in producing and promoting arts education programs at the Madison Campus.

Tom Carter, SMC Events Technician
Carol Evans, SMC Events Coordinator
Charles Mark-Walker, SMC Graphic Artist
Carol Ring, SMC Senior Designer
Gary Rose, Director Maintenance
Kyle Smith, SMC Events Technician
Christine Tobey, SMC Web Content Developer
Ming-Yea Wei, SMC Marketing Coordinator

Madison Campus Arts Website

Special thanks to Peter Anton and Rhonda Conry for start-up assistance with this website. Special acknowledgement to Christine Tobey for website administration.

Santa Monica College Board of Trustees

Dr. Susan Aminoff, Chair
Rob Rader, Vice Chair
Judge David B. Finkel (Ret.)
Dr. Nancy Greenstein
Louise Jaffe
Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez
Dr. Andrew Walzer

Dr. Chui L. Tsang, Superintendent/President