Leadership & Staff

Lauren Shelton is the new Director of the Butler Community Arts School. Mrs. Shelton has a strong background in arts education and arts management. She has been a classroom teacher, music director for the San Diego Children’s Choir and Girl Scouts San Diego, and began the Community Opus Project with the San Diego Youth Symphony in 2010. Prior to arriving at Butler University, Mrs. Shelton implemented the return of the visual and performing arts to the Chula Vista Elementary School District using the district’s investment of $18 million dollars to employ 94 arts teachers. She also served as faculty for the Longy School of Music of Bard College Masters of Arts in Teaching program at the Los Angeles Campus. Lauren Shelton holds a California Teaching Credential, California Administrative Credential, and completed her Masters in Educational Leadership with a focus on Arts Integration and Common Core Standards Implementation with honors. In June 2015 she was a recipient of the Yale School of Music Distinguished Educator of the Year Award and most recently received the Outstanding Administrator Award from the California Music Educators Association at the state and local level. Mrs. Shelton currently serves on the Board of Directors for El Sistema USA, which supports a nation-wide alliance of El Sistema inspired organizations.

Dr. Lisa Brooks came to Butler in 1994 as a member of the violin faculty. Prior to her appointment as Dean of the Jordan College of the Arts, she served as Chair of the School of Music and Director of the Graduate Music Program. She held previous faculty appointments at Baylor University, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, Messiah College, and Dickinson College. Brooks received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in violin performance from West Virginia University; her doctorate in violin performance is from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. As an orchestral musician, Dr. Brooks is currently principal second violinist of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and a frequent substitute musician with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on both violin and viola. She presents the pre-concert lectures for the Ensemble Music Society, and is a member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans.In 2013, Brooks received the inaugural Faculty Award for Distinguished Service and Leadership from Butler University, and in 2001, she received a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.