Denise Santisteban was an equity stage manager in the San Francisco Bay Area who brought her organizational talents to the Festival of Arts & Ideas when she moved to New Haven in 1996. As a member of the programming team, she loves discovering the most compelling voices discussing pressing issues of our times to the Ideas program and finding the most compelling restaurants and tours to show off the wonders of New Haven.
Denise has been working in the arts her entire life, and is committed to what arts and culture bring to our communities and how it enriches them. She is the current board president of the Connecticut Arts Alliance, a statewide membership organization that engages the arts community, elected officials, and the public as champions for the arts.
Outside of the Festival, Denise is an avid storyteller with the Institute Library Story Sharing Group and Ubuntu Storytellers. She has told at Tellabrations, The Mouth Off, Songs and Stories, New Haven Storytellers, and Story City Troupe.
She received her B.A. in theatre from San Francisco State University and her M.S. in Journalism from Quinnipiac University. When not telling stories, curating ideas or organizing food/tour events, you can find her in the studio creating costumes for various comic conventions or out taking pictures of the world.