AUBURN - The Cayuga County Arts Council hopes to jump start the several-year-old Schine Theater restoration project and extend its cultural reach with the appointment of a full-time executive director.
The council announced Monday that Susan Harris will be the first to fill the full-time position since lack of funding forced the departure of Karen Colizzi-Noonan in 2001.
“It's the right time,” council President Dia Carabajal said. “There's been a lot of buzz about the Schine Theater project.”
The decision is rooted in the seven-point Call to Action issued by a committee of volunteers in January. A key piece of the plan calls for shaping of a cultural identity for Cayuga County and Auburn around development of a theater district.
“That kind of sparked us into motion, it's their call to action and we're moving on it,” Carabajal said. “This is just the right time for the Schine Theater project and the right time to move programming forward.”
The council purchased the Schine Theater in 1998 and has gradually made repairs to the 1938 structure since then. In addition to the Schine project on South Street, the executive director will focus on an building a creative industry for the area, Carabajal said.
“It's becoming more and more necessary that regions develop culturally as a form of economic enrichment,” she said. “You've got to give people something to do after 5 o'clock to help your downtown.”
The nonprofit group plans to tap a matching grant from the state Council on the Arts to cover the undisclosed salary for the director.
“It opens up an entirely different world for us as far as funding goes,” Carabajal said, noting a full-time director is a frequent requirement for project-funding grants from the state Council on the Arts.
Harris brings 20 years of experience in project management, historic preservation, strategic marketing, public relations and fundraising as a professional artist and advocate for the arts. The Union Springs resident with art and design degrees from Wells College and SUNY Oswego has worked with Finger Lakes Arts and Grants Services, Geneva, and the Route 90 Scenic Byway tourism initiative among others.
Harris plans to bring together government, business, artists, organizations and residents to create an arts culture and economy centered around a resurgent Schine Theater.
“I look at my job as being sort of a collaborator, a person to bring together these partners,” she said. “This isn't just about arts or economic development, it's about improving the quality of life in Auburn.
“It's like creating a strategic plan with all of the stakeholders,” Harris said. “A project of this magnitude takes collaboration.”
On the programming side, Harris envisions more workshops to help artists become more economically competitive and education initiatives that create a market for them.
Harris has been stepping into the executive director position since April and officially took over on June 1.
Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net
“It's the right time,” council President Dia Carabajal said. “There's been a lot of buzz about the Schine Theater project.”
The decision is rooted in the seven-point Call to Action issued by a committee of volunteers in January. A key piece of the plan calls for shaping of a cultural identity for Cayuga County and Auburn around development of a theater district.
“That kind of sparked us into motion, it's their call to action and we're moving on it,” Carabajal said. “This is just the right time for the Schine Theater project and the right time to move programming forward.”
The council purchased the Schine Theater in 1998 and has gradually made repairs to the 1938 structure since then. In addition to the Schine project on South Street, the executive director will focus on an building a creative industry for the area, Carabajal said.
“It's becoming more and more necessary that regions develop culturally as a form of economic enrichment,” she said. “You've got to give people something to do after 5 o'clock to help your downtown.”
The nonprofit group plans to tap a matching grant from the state Council on the Arts to cover the undisclosed salary for the director.
“It opens up an entirely different world for us as far as funding goes,” Carabajal said, noting a full-time director is a frequent requirement for project-funding grants from the state Council on the Arts.
Harris brings 20 years of experience in project management, historic preservation, strategic marketing, public relations and fundraising as a professional artist and advocate for the arts. The Union Springs resident with art and design degrees from Wells College and SUNY Oswego has worked with Finger Lakes Arts and Grants Services, Geneva, and the Route 90 Scenic Byway tourism initiative among others.
Harris plans to bring together government, business, artists, organizations and residents to create an arts culture and economy centered around a resurgent Schine Theater.
“I look at my job as being sort of a collaborator, a person to bring together these partners,” she said. “This isn't just about arts or economic development, it's about improving the quality of life in Auburn.
“It's like creating a strategic plan with all of the stakeholders,” Harris said. “A project of this magnitude takes collaboration.”
On the programming side, Harris envisions more workshops to help artists become more economically competitive and education initiatives that create a market for them.
Harris has been stepping into the executive director position since April and officially took over on June 1.
Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net
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Kathy wrote on Jun 5, 2007 1:15 PM: