Ginger Theisen has been selected for induction into the 2022 Pius X Fine Arts Hall of Fame for serving as a source of inspiration to Pius X students, alumni, and community members through her accomplished career as a film-maker, and her witness of faith and courage in sharing her journey of recovery from a traumatic-brain injury, which are helping to perpetuate the proud heritage of the Pius X fine arts program.
Ginger Theisen grew up in a small town in Northeast Nebraska with a strong sense of curiosity. When she started high school at Pius X, an interest in the arts, inspired by the wonderful teachers who taught those classes, became pivotal in the path she would pursue. At the same time, she regularly attended the independent foreign film series showing at Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln, which included discussions with some of the filmmakers. Both of these experiences gave her a clear discernment of God’s call in shaping her vocation.
After graduating from Pius X in 1973, Ginger moved to Paris as an au-pair before returning to the United States a year later to study film at Syracuse University. She began her producing career at Nebraska Public Media in Lincoln before moving to California with her son to freelance in the San Francisco Bay area. This led to a job at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) which was George Lucas’s visual effects company based in San Rafael, California.
During her 15 years at ILM, Ginger worked with an extraordinarily talented group of people, creating groundbreaking visual effects on several films including Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, The Perfect Storm, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, three films which received nominations for Academy Awards in visual effects. After leaving ILM, she moved to the Los Angeles area to work on other feature films as a free-lance VFX producer until moving back to Nebraska to develop a film about the Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse.
Soon after relocating to Omaha, her life dramatically changed. She had a horse riding accident which caused a traumatic brain injury. Her remarkable journey of recovery was detailed in her book, Weaving Through the Labyrinth: Emerging from a Traumatic Brain Injury, published in 2020. Now, Ginger is living in Europe. This has sparked her curiosity to thrive and flourish as she explores the next chapter God has planned for her.
