Arvada Center Announces new Executive Director

The City of Arvada has announced the hiring of Philip C. Sneed as the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities new Executive Director. The announcement concludes a seven month national search to fill the Center's top position. Sneed who currently serves as the Producing Artistic Director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival will assume his duties beginning February 4, 2013.

For Sneed, coming to the Arvada Center is a homecoming. "I received my very first paycheck as a working artist back in 1976, performing in the second play ever produced at the Arvada Center." He went on to say, "I am deeply honored to come back to Arvada and to be entrusted with the leadership of a cultural organization that supports artists and offers a creative place for the community to experience the arts."

David Cooke, Chair of the Arvada Council for the Arts and Humanities sees Sneed as an excellent choice. "He brings so much to the table in terms of regional presence through his years with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival." He said, "His experience in forging new partnerships and supporting donor development will further the Arvada Center's position as the premiere multi-disciplined organization in the western United States."

"From our first meeting with Philip, we knew we had found a person that was truly passionate about the arts and carried the broad knowledge required to lead the Arvada Center." Stated Mark G. Deven, City Manager for the City of Arvada, "We are thrilled to have someone who has deep connections to the Arvada Center and also brings strong experience in the arts and community relationships." Deven went on to say, "We feel we have found the right Executive Director to lead the Arvada Center into its next phase of growth."

Prior to accepting the position, Sneed spent six and a half years as Producing Artistic Director of the prestigious Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF). He arrived in Boulder after spending twelve years as Artistic Director of The Foothill Theatre Company/Sierra Shakespeare Festival in Nevada City, California. While in California, Sneed initiated a cultural exchange program with the Maxim Gorky Theatre of Vladivostok, Russia, which resulted in seven projects, including a bilingual Hamlet in Russia, a new adaptation of Dracula, which he directed at the Gorky, and a CSF co-production of The Inspector General in 2011. Nationally respected by his peers, Sneed recently served two terms as President of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.

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