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National Arts Advocate Ben Cameron to discuss "The State of the Arts" at Lunch Hour Lecture
For Immediate Release
Release Date: Monday, May 23, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, FL – The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville will present national arts advocate Ben Cameron in a free lunch hour lecture at the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art (JMOMA) on Thursday, June 2 at 12:30 p.m.
Considered by many to be one of the country’s most influential arts advocates, Cameron speaks at numerous engagements across the country on topics including the importance of cultural citizenship, the development of new leaders in the arts, and the arts value system. In Jacksonville, he will present “The State of the Arts and How Artists and the Community Need to Think Differently about the Future.”
“We’re pleased to bring people together in this type of forum to stimulate community dialogue around arts issues,” said Robert Arleigh White, executive director of the Cultural Council. “In seeking a speaker, we were strongly encouraged by colleagues around the state to bring Ben Cameron to Jacksonville as his messages are timely and invigorating to those who care about the future of the arts.”
Cameron is the Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group in New York City, a national organization for not-for-profit theaters with 17,000 individual and 440 professional theater company members. Previously, he was a senior program officer at the Dayton Hudson Foundation and subsequently was named the national manager of community relations at Target Stores where he supervised a $51 million giving program. Cameron also served as director of the National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Program and has worked with several not-for-profit professional theaters. He has taught at the Yale School of Drama, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is currently a member of the adjunct faculty at Columbia University.
Cameron has published numerous articles, including a monthly column in American Theatre. He received an M.F.A. in dramaturgy from the Yale School of Drama, a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an honorary Doctorate from DePaul University in Chicago, and an honorary M.F.A. in Acting from American Conservatory Theatre. He has served as Vice President of the National Arts and Business Council and currently sits on the boards of Grantmakers in the Arts, National Arts Strategies, and the American Arts Alliance, and is a member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee.
The lunch hour lecture is free and open to the public. Parking will be available at the new parking deck located at the corner of Main and Duval streets, adjacent to JMOMA. Beverages will be provided, however no food will be permitted in the JMOMA auditorium.
A breakfast session for arts administrators will be held June 2 at 8:30 a.m. at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. Tickets are $10 for Council members and $25 for non-members. For more information or to reserve a seat for either session, please call the Cultural Council at 358-3600.
To read more about Ben Cameron download his bio in Word format
www.culturalcouncil.org/_downloads/BenCameron_bio.doc
To view the invitations in PDF format www.culturalcouncil.org/downloads/BenCameron_invitation.pdf
www.culturalcouncil.org/downloads/BenCameron_invitation_JMOMA.pdf