Private Sector Council Bios
Michelle Alexander
michelle@sacabc.org
Laura Bruney
arts-business-miami@att.net
As Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Miami for the past 20 years, Laura Bruney has helped strengthen the cultural community through leadership and board development programs, audience development and marketing initiatives, volunteer programs for the arts and networking and community events. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of Council staff, policy and programs. Ms. Bruney works closely with the Council board to develop and implement the Council’s strategic plan, interfaces with the cultural community on behalf of the Council, and is the Council’s chief spokesperson. Ms. Bruney is responsible for the development and implementation of new programs and services, diversified fund-raising and public relations strategies, and the overall development and coordination of the organization’s signature event, the Serving the Arts Luncheon.
The Arts & Business Council of Miami is a unique organization that is making a difference in South Florida by providing the catalyst for building working partnerships between business and the arts. Ms. Bruney joined the Council during its second full year of operation in 1987 and has been the Director since 1988. She was instrumental in the development of the Arts & Business Council concept during its early years and is credited with creating fourteen different programs and services through the Council, generating more than $8 million in business resources to benefit the nonprofit cultural sector. Under Ms. Bruney’s leadership the Arts & Business Council has expanded by more than 1,000% attracting new volunteers and community leaders. She is devoted to creating partnerships between the corporate and cultural communities. To that end, she works closely with the boards and executive staff of over 500 cultural organizations and recruits, trains and manages over 50 executive consultants and 1,500 direct service volunteers from the corporate community.
Ms. Bruney organizes the Arts & Business Council’s signature event, the Serving the Arts Luncheon which has honored the corporations and individuals that keep the arts vibrant and thriving in Miami Dade for over 10 years. Over 600 corporate leaders, arts executives and elected officials participate each year.
Ms. Bruney is very active in the community. She is a member of the Coral Gables Chamber and is active in the Arts Committee. She partners with the Miami Beach Chamber each year to host the Arts & Business Lunch. Ms. Bruney is chair for the Arts Subcommittee of the Creative Industries committee of the Greater Miami Chamber where she helps develop forums focused on the enhancing the creative industries in South Florida. Additional involvement includes: serving on the Executive Committee of the Dade Cultural Alliance, Theatre League of South Florida and Children’s Cultural Coalition; Chairing a Committee for Arts in North Beach. She is active in the Business Center for the Arts Exploratory Committee with an exciting vision to bring a full range of technical assistance opportunities to artists and arts executives under one roof. She is also a member of the Miami Beach Women’s Commission and works with them on pay equity and arts outreach opportunities.
Her other civic leadership includes serving as former Chair of the Miami Beach Mayor’s Committee on Cultural Affairs and participation in Leadership Miami. She is a past chair of the Miami Beach Fine Arts Board which produces the Miami Beach Festival of the Arts. Under her leadership the festival cemented it’s partnership with the North Beach Development Corporation and increased artistic quality and attendance. Ms. Bruney has also served on numerous grant panels for the Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the State of Florida.
Ms. Bruney has been honored with Who’s Who of American Women, International Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, Miami Arts Exchange Maxie Recognition Award, Miami Today’s Up & Comers Award - Arts & Culture Category, Greater Miami Chamber Special Recognition Award and Who’s Who of Women Executives.
Ms. Bruney received a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Miami, School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Florida. Prior to her work with the Arts & Business Council Ms. Bruney worked as Director of Instructional Resources for the University of Miami School of Medicine and before that served as a Medical Television Producer with the University of Miami. She worked with CBS Sports on a freelance basis for several years.
Melinda Chavez
melinda.chavez@tbbca.org
James M. Clark
jclark@lexarts.org
James M. Clark accepted the position of president and CEO of the Lexington (KY) Arts and Cultural Council in October 2002. Before coming to Lexington, Clark served as president and CEO of Culture Works in Dayton, OH, since 1998. Prior to that position, he managed a graduate-level program at the Pratt Institute in New York City, and was the executive director of the Public Arts Fund of New York City. Clark is a graduate of the University of Southern California and received his master's degree in public administration from New York University. His impressive career path has also included other positions of public service, as well as owning and managing a private art gallery in Los Angeles.
Bruce W. Davis
bdavis@artscouncil.org
Since 1993, Bruce W. Davis has served as the executive director of Arts Council Silicon Valley, the largest nonprofit arts council in California. Under Davis’ leadership, the Arts Council has more than quadrupled its budget and established numerous successful partnerships and initiatives to support the local Silicon Valley arts community. This includes distributing more than $15 million in grants and services to local arts groups and artists. Davis was also instrumental in the creation of the Artsopolis Marketing Partnership and Artsopolis.com, the nation’s leading arts and culture calendaring software program. Davis is an active member of Americans for the Arts, a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley, and was a founding Board member of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits. He is also a co-founder of 1stACT Silicon Valley, a cross-sector collaborative focused on art and technology.
Jeanie P. Duncan
jduncan@uacarts.org
Jeanie Duncan has served organizations in the non-profit sector for 17 years in North Carolina and Florida. Most of her experience in this time has been specifically related to arts and culture. Jeanie is President & CEO of the United Arts Council (UAC) of Greensboro, which exists to invest in its creative community by focusing its efforts on development and advocacy. The UAC raises $1.6 million annually, investing funds and services to arts organizations, artists and schools.
Jeanie is a native of Greensboro, NC, where she now lives with her husband and son. She earned her BS from UNC-Greensboro, a certificate in non-profit management from Duke University, and the status of Certified Fund Raising Professional from the Association of Fund Raising Professionals.
She is an instructor and speaker for the Duke University Certificate Program in Non-Profit Management, UNC-Greensboro, NC Arts Council, NC Center for Non-Profits and Americans for the Arts.
Jeanie serves on the boards for Downtown Greensboro, Inc., Arts North Carolina, Greensboro Merchants Association, UNC-Greensboro Board of Visitors and the Private Sector Council for Americans for the Arts.
Jeff Hawthorne
jhawthorne@racc.org
Jeff Hawthorne is the director of community affairs for the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) which serves three counties in the Portland, OR, metropolitan area. His responsibilities include developing new revenues for the local arts community from a variety of sources including government agencies, private foundations, and Work for Art, RACC’s workplace giving program. He also coordinates local arts advocacy efforts and oversees a variety of research projects to help quantify the size and scope of the local arts community each year. A Portland native, Hawthorne has a strong arts fundraising background that includes nine years at Portland Center Stage, where he led two annual fund campaigns as director of development, increasing contributed income levels by 55 percent from 1998 to 2000. Other fundraising projects have included the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Project 180 in San Francisco, DC Central Kitchen, and Metro Regional Parks and Greenspaces. He has co-produced several popular charitable fundraising events in Portland, including Sing-A-Long Sound of Music, The Raised Umbrella, and The Red Dress Party. Hawthorne graduated cum laude from the University of Portland with a bachelor’s degree in theater management.
Deborah Jordy
djordy@cbca.org
Margot H. Knight
margot@unitedarts.cc
Since October of 2001, Margot H. Knight has been President & CEO of United Arts of Central Florida. She currently serves on the boards of both the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as the executive board of myregion.org. In addition, Margot is part of the development committee of the Southern Arts Federation, serves on the advisory committees for both the school of Arts & Humanities and the school of Nonprofit Management at the University of Central Florida, and is also on the Alumni board of James Madison University.
In 2004, the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council honored her with a Woman of Distinction award, and she received the Woman’s Achievement Award in Arts & Culture in 2006. In 2007 she received the prestigious national Michael Newton Award from Americans for the Arts, and from 2007-2008, Margot chaired the United Arts Funds Council.
Margot enjoyed a brief theatrical career before working in history and the arts. She was the oral historian for the Whitman County, WA Historical Society, director of the Oral History Office at Washington State University, and regional coordinator of the Washington Women's Heritage Project. She was also the interim director of the Washington (State) Commission for the Humanities where she designed and raised funds for several oral history projects, including one for pioneering women journalists on behalf of the Washington Press Club Foundation.
She served as President & CEO of the United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County from 1998-2001 and Executive Director of the Idaho Commission on the Arts from 1990-1997. From 1985-1990, she was assistant director of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in Washington, D.C.
She has served on the leadership of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, United Arts Funds Council, Western States Arts Federation, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and the Idaho Rural Partnership, which she chaired in 1996. In 1997, the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs honored her for her contributions to the Hispanic community.
Margot lives in Winter Springs, Florida with her 17-year old human, Guy Edward Scudder, one cat and one dog.
Education: B.A. Russian Studies & General Social Science, minors in Theatre & Education
James Madison University, 1974.
Benjamin Krevolin
bkrevolin@artsmidhudson.org
Benjamin Krevolin has been the president of Dutchess County Arts Council since September of 2003. Previous to that, Benjamin worked with a number of nonprofit cultural organizations including New York Stage & Film and the Byrd Hoffman Foundation, headed by the avant-garde stage director and artist Robert Wilson. As a freelance director, actor, and producer, Benjamin worked on the premieres of plays and musicals in New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Stockholm, including the Tony-Award winning productions of Titanic and The Lion King. Benjamin grew up in Dutchess County, received a B.A. from Vassar College and went on to receive a post-graduate diploma from the Juilliard School of Drama. Benjamin is an active member of the Mid-Hudson Deaf Awareness Group and has served on the Steering Committee for Pattern For Progress' Global Hudson Valley Initiative and the Board of the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County. He is currently a participant in Pattern For Progress' Regional Fellows Program, Member of the Tourism Committee for Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation, Member-elect to the Board of the Poughkeepsie Area Chamber of Commerce, and a member of Americans for the Arts' Arts Advocacy Captains Network.
Peter Kuntz
peterk@artsbiz-chicago.org
Peter is currently Executive Director of the nonprofit Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC), a chapter of the national Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts. A capacity-building arts service organization with a nine-person staff, the A&BC recruits, trains and manages skilled volunteers from Chicago’s business community and connects them with the city’s diverse nonprofit arts/culture organizations in various ways, helping these organizations grow and sustain themselves as institutions. Thus, A&BC is one of the most effective, visible and hands-on ways for businesses to engage and support the arts in Chicago.
Prior to the A&BC, Peter worked for seven years at the nonprofit Chicago Humanities Festival in myriad capacities, including Director of Marketing, Director of Programs and Acting President. Through his multifaceted Festival planning activities, he worked closely with many of the city’s thought leaders from the government, business, cultural, foundation, media and academic sectors.
Peter’s work in the cultural nonprofit sector was preceded by 20+ years of successful client account management in Chicago’s marketing and advertising agency arena, including extended stints with Needham Harper Worldwide (now DDB) and Hal Riney/Publicis. Prominent clients included Kraft Foods, General Mills, Anheuser-Busch, Nicor, Bally Total Fitness, Nuveen Investments, Procter & Gamble, Whirlpool, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and Whirlpool.
Peter serves on the board of Chicago’s award-winning TimeLine Theatre Company. Married, he is the father of two teenagers and lives in the city’s Edgewater neighborhood.
Janet Langsam
jlangsam@westarts.com
Janet T. Langsam, executive director of the Westchester Arts Council, is an artist, journalist, and senior arts administrator with more than 30 years of experience in the field of arts management. Langsam initiated new arts funding strategies, artist housing, and cultural tourism in New York City and Boston before beginning her 13 years in Westchester. With her board and staff, Langsam raises more than $1.8 million annually to bring the arts to communities, classrooms, youth centers, day care facilities, libraries, and senior centers in every town and village in Westchester. The Arts Council currently funds more than 150 arts institutes and artists and serves more than 120 schools. A tireless advocate for the arts in our communities, Langsam is founding director of the United States Urban Arts Federation and founder of the Queens Museum. She started as district manager in the Office of Neighborhood Development in New York City’s Lindsay Administration, and went on to serve as first deputy commissioner of Cultural Affairs under New York City Mayors Abe Beame and Ed Koch, and later as president and CEO of the Boston Center for the Arts. She currently serves on the boards of the New York State Alliances of Community Arts Agencies and National United Arts Funds Council of Americans for the Arts. Langsam holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master's degree in public administration from New York University. She received the Michael Newton Award from Americans for the Arts in 2003 for her distinguished work in united arts fundraising.
Mary McCullough-Hudson
mmh@fineartsfund.org
Mary McCullough-Hudson is President & CEO of the Fine Arts Fund, a position she has held since 1994 following ten years as the director of the Fine Arts Fund’s annual united arts campaign. During her 29-year tenure with the organization, the Fine Arts Fund campaign has grown from $2.5 million to $11 million in 2009 (the largest such campaign in the country), a source of operating and project support for over 100 area arts organizations. In addition, over $1 million in new funding for initiatives in arts education, regional and neighborhood art centers, and diverse arts offerings was contributed in 2009. Other notable organizational achievements have included the creation of the Arts Services office which provides capacity building programs focused on marketing, board development, fundraising and other administrative issues; including Business Volunteers for the Arts ®, Business on Board ® and the Virtual Arts Incubator. In 2008, the Fine Arts Fund established the Arts & Culture Partnership, LLC to improve the financial sustainability and influence of the sector through increased awareness, collaboration and participation.
Mary has been a frequent consultant and presenter on united arts fundraising throughout the country. In 2005 she was appointed to the national Board of Directors of Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. Local civic leadership roles have included Agenda 360 (a Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber-led regional action plan) and the educational collaborative STRIVE. Honors include the YWCA Career Women of Achievement award and the CCM Distinguished Alumna award. A native Cincinnatian, McCullough-Hudson received both her bachelor and master degrees in opera performance from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music
Perry Mixter
mixterhp@spartanarts.org
Perry Mixter began his position as President of The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg in early summer 2007. Previously, Mixter served as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Appalachian State University (ASU). From 1991 to early 2005, he served as Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs at ASU. In this capacity, he directed the operations of four major ASU programs: the Performing Arts Series and Forum Series, An Appalachian Summer Festival, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, and operation of Appalachian’s 1734seat Farthing Auditorium. Throughout his career, Mixter has served in a variety of leadership roles in the arts and civic affairs, including serving as President of the North Carolina Presenters Consortium, President of the Boone Sunrise Rotary Club, and President of the High Country United Way. He currently is a member of the Downtown Spartanburg Rotary Club and of the Private Sector Council of Americans for the Arts. Mixter also was selected as a member of Leadership Spartanburg’s Class of 2008. Previously, he has served on the boards of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, and Arts North Carolina. In 1995, Perry established Mixter Consulting Services, which provides consulting services in organizational development, technology applications, and strategic planning for non-profit agencies.
Prior to coming to Appalachian State University, Mixter served as Executive Director of the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony from 1984 to 1991. Mixter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Denison University, and he holds a Master of Arts Degree from the Arts Administration Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and his wife, Jan, have two daughters, Jennifer and Sarah.
Rie Poirier-Campbell
rpoirier@letsgoarts.org
Rie Poirier-Campbell [pronounced REE POR-ee-er CAM-bel] is the Chief Operating Officer of the Greater Hartford Arts Council, and directs the organization’s annual United Arts Campaign, which raises more than $4 million a year to benefit 150+ local arts & heritage organizations.
Rie has been with the Arts Council since 2000, first leading its marketing function, and then the organization’s development efforts, before taking on her present role in 2007.
Rie has 25 years experience promoting Greater Hartford and its organizations, having held marketing and communications positions in the fields of politics, television, real estate development, insurance, government, consumer products and economic development before joining the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Currently a board member of the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits, she also serves on the Private Sector Council of Americans for the Arts, a national advocacy organization. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of Nutmeg Big Brothers/Big Sisters and has served on the boards of several other local organizations, including The Clare Gallery, Seniors Job Bank, Agora, Channel 3 Kids Camp, and Church Street Singers.
Rie lives in Canton with her husband Michael.
Kelly Seward
seward@ArtsKC.org
Kelly Seward is the Business Programs Manager at the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City. Since 2006, she has helped Kansas City businesses become engaged in the arts through programs such as Now Showing, Art/Work, and Arts & Issues. Prior to joining the Arts Council, Kelly was a Principal Business Analyst for DST Systems, Inc. While at DST, she served as the visual arts co-chair on the company's employee-led arts council, experiencing first-hand the the value of arts in the workplace. Kelly has a BFA and MA in Art History from the University of Kansas.
James Sparrow
jsparrow@artsunited.org
Jim Sparrow is the Executive Director of Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, the united arts fund serving northeast Indiana and has been with the organization for 10 years. Before becoming Executive Director in 2005, he was Director of Development for the organization, running the annual fund drive for 5 years. Prior to that position he held the position of Education Specialist with the organization. Jim started his career as a classically trained musician, studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and held the position of Principal Clarinetist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic from 1988 to 1998. He is currently Board Chair for Invent Tomorrow; a member of Early Childhood Alliance’s Board of Directors and a board member for Fort Wayne’s Downtown Improvement District. Jim has also been a member of the Indiana Arts Commission’s Strategic Planning Task Force and is on the Advisory Committee for the Northeast Indiana Nonprofit Association.
James F. Tune
jimtune@artsfund.org
Jim Tune came to ArtsFund as President & CEO in January 2006, after a thirty-one-year career as a corporate lawyer. This was a natural move for Jim, due to his long involvement with and enthusiastic commitment to the arts. Mr. Tune has been a deeply engaged member of the ArtsFund board since 1997, having served as the organization’s chair, vice chair and secretary. Mr. Tune serves on the Private Sector Council under the auspices of the national organization Americans for the Arts, and he has held top board positions at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, including chair and president. His experience in the arts reaches more broadly through his service as legal counsel to the Kreielsheimer
Foundation (which reached its sunset in 2000) where he negotiated and drafted many of its most significant grants to visual arts, music, opera, ballet and theater groups. He continues to serve on the board of the Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation. Mr. Tune has served in leadership and fundraising roles with many other civic, educational and human services organizations. From 1997 to 2005, he served as a trustee of United Way of King County including terms as board chair and vice chair. He also chaired that organization’s Strategic Planning Committee. He has served as board member and chair of the Economic Development Council of Seattle & King County (now enterpriseSeattle) and the Foundation of The Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. His other civic
leadership includes the boards of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Red Cross Leadership Council, University Preparatory Academy and the Board of Visitors of Stanford University Law School, of which he is an alumnus. Mr. Tune serves on the corporate boards of Puget Sound Bank of Bellevue and Keynetics Inc. of Boise, ID. He was appointed by Mayor Greg Nickels to the Seattle Center Advisory Commission for a three-year term that began in 2008.
Mr. Tune’s three decades of experience as a highly respected attorney include a wealth of managerial experience. He was a principal in the Corporate practice group and managing partner of the Seattle office of Stoel Rives LLP from 2002-2005. From 1999 to 2001, he was a partner with Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Prior to that, he practiced law with Bogle & Gates P.L.L.C. from 1974 to 1999 and was managing partner of that firm from 1986-1993. In addition to leading civic organizations and law firms, Mr. Tune was a leader in the U.S. Navy from 1964-69, serving as Lieutenant and as Officer-in-Charge of Swift Boat PCF 24 in Cat Lo, Vietnam during 1966-67.
Mr. Tune’s education includes a J.D. and M.A. from Stanford and a B.A. with high distinction from the
University of Virginia.
Connie Linsler Valentine
cvalentine@.abcnashville.org
Will Maitland Weiss
wmweiss@artsandbusiness-ny.org
Will comes to the Arts & Business Council, NY, from The Center for Creative Resources, a nonprofit that provides management, marketing, and development services for arts organizations; and he continues to serve on the board of this start-up firm. He served for five years as vice president of development and communications for New York City Center—producer of the award-winning Encores! series of American musicals and performance home to Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theatre, Paul Taylor, Manhattan Theatre Club, and others. Prior to that, he spent 10 years in fundraising at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts with the New York City Opera, and five years as marketing director, then development director, and then managing director of the Off-Broadway CSC Repertory. After receiving his M.F.A. in stage direction from Brandeis University, Will spent several years as stage manager, then production manager, then managing director of a LORT theater and multiarts presenting facility in New England. He also served as vice president of development and communications for a NYC-based healthcare organization, where his responsibilities included management of a successful capital campaign. He has lectured on arts administration at Brown University, New York University, and Williams College. Will presented at National Arts Marketing Conferences in both 2003 (NYC) and 2004 (Chicago), and is proud to have successfully nominated an Encore Award-winning former colleague and to have mentored past Arts & Business Council summer arts management interns.
Virginia Willard
virginia@nwbca.org
Virginia Willard has been Executive Director of Northwest Business for Culture & the Arts since January, 2000. Virginia spent 27 years in banking, and was most recently senior vice president of First Interstate Bank of Oregon (now Wells Fargo Bank.) She has served on many arts boards, including ten years on the board of Portland Opera, and four years on the Metropolitan Arts Commission (predecessor to the Regional Arts and Culture Council), serving as chair of both organizations.
Celeste Wilson
celeste@artsandbusinesscouncil.org
Celeste Wilson, co-Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council, has spent most of her working life creating and advocating for programs that lead to greater prosperity for the arts. Two of her successes at the Arts & Business Council are Business on Board through which business professionals are educated in all aspects of Board service and placed on the Boards of art organizations, and Strengthening Your Organization which, teaches nonprofit administrators how to manage their Boards. Given her experience and her strong business perspective, Ms. Wilson was a natural advocate of the recent merger of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Arts & Business Council. Formerly, Celeste was the General Manager of the C. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University. Most of her arts administration career was spent in Florida where she held the position of: Director of Public Relations, Audience Development and Corporate Sponsorship for the Broward Center for the Performing Arts; Managing Director of the Hirschfeld Theatre; and Director of Public Relations and Marketing for Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts Sciences and Humanities (MAASH), the Business Advisory Committee for the MA Creative Economy and the National Private Sector Council of Americans for the Arts. Celeste holds an Executive MBA from Suffolk University.
Andrew M.Witt
andy@getcultured.org
In April 2004, Andrew Witt was named Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties - the Local Arts Agency serving the metropolitan Columbia area. The Council is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create and nurture a climate throughout the two-county area in which cultural programs, involving both institutions and individuals, can thrive. Through cooperative planning, public education and fundraising, the organization supports more than 100 arts-related organizations and coordinates special projects to enhance the quality of life for Midlands residents.
Prior to coming to Columbia, Witt served for 16 years as the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Northwest Florida, a Local Arts Agency serving as a "chamber of commerce and united arts fund" for cultural groups in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties and other counties in the Central Time Zone.
He is a past President of the Florida Association of Local Arts Agencies (FALAA), was on the Board of the Florida Cultural Alliance, and a Past President of the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club. He served on the Florida Arts Council/Division of Cultural Affairs Strategic Planning Task Force. He has also served as a grant panelist for the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and Division of Historic Resources, the Kentucky Arts Council, and several Local Arts Agencies in Florida.
Prior to his work in Florida, Mr. Witt served as the Executive Director of the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Colorado, Managing Director of the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, and as the Managing Director of the Fifth Avenue Theatre and A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, and the Tacoma Actors Guild.
He has served as a consultant to a variety of arts groups including the Advancement Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Foundation for the Extension and Development of the American Professional Theatre, the Western States Arts Foundation, and many local arts councils and non-profit cultural organizations.
He was a co-founder of the Washington State Arts Alliance, and the Arts Advocates of Washington State.
In Colorado, he served as Chairman of the Colorado Citizens for the Arts during the establishment of the Metro-Denver Cultural Facilities Tax District.
In South Carolina, he currently is a member of the Board of EngenuitySC, the South Carolina Arts Alliance, the South Carolina Association of Non-profit Organizations and the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
He is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut, and has a Master's Degree from the School of Drama at the University of Washington in Seattle.