Tim Wilson was the Executive Director of Western Arts Alliance (WAA) for 25-years - from 1997 - 2022. Under Tim’s leadership, WAA undertook programs to encourage and support the participation of marginalized artists and communities, including Advancing Indigenous Performance, WAA’s national initiative to build capacity and networks for First Nations performance.

Tim frequently presents at meetings and conferences on the performing arts including APAP, Shanghai Performing Arts Fair, the Government of Quebec Ministerial Forum, China Association for the Performing Arts, Pacific Contact, and Oregon Arts Commission.

He came to Western Arts Alliance from the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA). During his four-year tenure at the council, he redoubled ASCA’s communications with the public and the field, strengthened the council’s advocacy efforts and legislative relations, and with council direction, initiated an agency-wide restructuring. As part of the restructuring, he led the revision of ASCA grant program guidelines, criteria, and applications; focused communications and programs serving Native Alaskans, rural communities and underserved constituencies; and conducted a major rewrite of the council’s regulation. 

Wilson served on the Board of Directors of the Western States Arts Federation from 1994 to 1997 and on WESTAF’s executive committee in 1996 and 1997. In November of 1995, Wilson was elected to the Board of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) and named chair of the NASAA Communications Committee. He is a member of the Open Studio National Advisory Group, a joint project of the Benton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Wilson co-founded the Naa Kahidi Theater in 1986, and served as the company’s Managing Director until joining the Arts Council in 1993. A program of Sealaska Heritage Foundation in Juneau, Alaska, Naa Kahidi Theater produces dramatic performances based on the ancient traditions of Alaska Native cultures. Under his direction, the touring company grew from three weeks of work in 1988 to more than fifteen weeks in 1992 (including two tours to Europe and a tour of rural villages in Southeast Alaska). Naa Kahidi Theater performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and for the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of the American Indian in New York City. 

From 1985 to 1992, Wilson worked frequently as a director and sound designer for Perseverance Theatre of Douglas, Alaska. From 1980 to 1993, Wilson produced two weekly radio programs for KTOO-FM, the public radio station for the Juneau area. He served on the Board of the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1987 to 1993. 

Wilson holds a B.A. in Cinema from the University of Southern California. Until moving to San Francisco in 1997, he was a lifelong Alaskan.