Tessa Vaschel was born in Salt Lake City. She grew up in Utah and Juab counties before moving to the Midwest where she attended Indiana University and Bowling Green State University. She holds a BS in Arts Management and an MA in Theatre. Beginning with piano lessons at age four, she has pursued a lifelong passion for the arts across a variety of disciplines. She has performed with symphony orchestras and show choirs as well as working in theatre as a stage manager, house manager, carpenter, actor, pit orchestra musician, seamstress, director, and designer. In addition to music and theatre, she is a film enthusiast and enjoys visiting art museums and galleries.
Prior to joining the Davis Arts Council, Tessa worked in fundraising at United Way of Greater Toledo where she played an integral role in an annual campaign that raised over $10 million. While serving as Education Director at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, she oversaw in-school programming, summer camps, and classes that have provided hundreds of children with the opportunity to write and produce their own plays. She is particularly proud of her work at Clay Middle School in Carmel, IN, where she served as a Director of Theatre, working with dozens of students on productions of “Anne of Green Gables” and “Into the Woods, Jr.”
Tessa recently moved back to Utah after several years living in Ohio and is already in love with Davis County! She is glad to be home where she can spend more time with her parents, sister, and brothers. In her spare time, she enjoys playing board games, reading, baking, and spending time with her wife, Hannah, and her dog, Hazel.