Community Arts Center Names Whitnack Co-Executive Leader, Hires Arts Consulting Group to Lead Transition
Friday, October 7, 2016
The Community Arts Center, along with Pennsylvania College of Technology, announced today that the organization will transition to a new dual-leadership model with previously named Operations Director Dave Whitnack as one part of the organization’s dual executive office.
The arts consulting firm SiG Productions has been engaged to help guide the transition and conduct a search for the additional member of the executive team.
SiG previously worked with the Community Arts Center to review the organization’s day-to-day operations and provide insight on strategies for growth moving forward. The Arts Center’s Board of Directors voted at its last monthly meeting to adopt a series of recommendations proposed by SiG, which includes a dual executive office – a model very common among peer organizations in the industry.
Working closely with the board and Whitnack, SiG now begins the process of identifying executive candidates.
In making the announcement, Board Chairman William J. Martin said: “First, I want to thank the staff of the Community Arts Center, who have been doing a great job over the past year keeping everything operating smoothly while managing a lot of change in the organization. Dave has been an integral part of that process, and the board is very excited to have SiG working with all of us to move forward onto this next phase at the CAC.”
Whitnack, a Williamsport native and previously technical director at the Arts Center, started at the theater shortly after its restoration in 1993. He then went on to lead tours nationally and internationally for more than 10 years, working with a wide range of artists, presenters and venues before moving back to Williamsport and the CAC in 2006.
“The Community Arts Center has been a large part of my life, and early on, one of the reasons I chose a career in the entertainment industry,” Whitnack said. “I look forward to applying my many years of industry experience to this new leadership model while working with SiG as they help us move into a new era at the CAC.”
Whitnack has been working closely with the CAC staff and board since Rob Steele’s departure as executive director in 2015, helping to oversee the transition in leadership and stepping up as the operations director following the departure of Jamie Grady from the executive office in March.
In the new co-executive model, Whitnack will manage all production and facility operations, while the new co-leader will oversee community engagement, development and strategic planning. Together, they will work closely to create the organizational budget and determine artistic programming. The co-executive team will report directly to the Arts Center’s Board of Directors.
SiG Productions President K F. Williams and SiG Productions Associate Tyler Penfield will share interim executive office responsibilities, working closely with Whitnack to move the CAC through the rest of its season, begin planning for the 2017-18 season, and conduct a nationwide search for the new executive hiring.
“SiG is delighted to have an opportunity to help the CAC and its Board of Directors during this transition. We are very impressed with the current staff and the ongoing potential of this outstanding community facility,” Williams said.
In addition to the executive leadership search, SiG will also help coordinate the search for a new director of development. For more about the Community Arts Center, visit online.
The arts consulting firm SiG Productions has been engaged to help guide the transition and conduct a search for the additional member of the executive team.
SiG previously worked with the Community Arts Center to review the organization’s day-to-day operations and provide insight on strategies for growth moving forward. The Arts Center’s Board of Directors voted at its last monthly meeting to adopt a series of recommendations proposed by SiG, which includes a dual executive office – a model very common among peer organizations in the industry.
Working closely with the board and Whitnack, SiG now begins the process of identifying executive candidates.In making the announcement, Board Chairman William J. Martin said: “First, I want to thank the staff of the Community Arts Center, who have been doing a great job over the past year keeping everything operating smoothly while managing a lot of change in the organization. Dave has been an integral part of that process, and the board is very excited to have SiG working with all of us to move forward onto this next phase at the CAC.”
Whitnack, a Williamsport native and previously technical director at the Arts Center, started at the theater shortly after its restoration in 1993. He then went on to lead tours nationally and internationally for more than 10 years, working with a wide range of artists, presenters and venues before moving back to Williamsport and the CAC in 2006.
“The Community Arts Center has been a large part of my life, and early on, one of the reasons I chose a career in the entertainment industry,” Whitnack said. “I look forward to applying my many years of industry experience to this new leadership model while working with SiG as they help us move into a new era at the CAC.”
Whitnack has been working closely with the CAC staff and board since Rob Steele’s departure as executive director in 2015, helping to oversee the transition in leadership and stepping up as the operations director following the departure of Jamie Grady from the executive office in March.
In the new co-executive model, Whitnack will manage all production and facility operations, while the new co-leader will oversee community engagement, development and strategic planning. Together, they will work closely to create the organizational budget and determine artistic programming. The co-executive team will report directly to the Arts Center’s Board of Directors.
SiG Productions President K F. Williams and SiG Productions Associate Tyler Penfield will share interim executive office responsibilities, working closely with Whitnack to move the CAC through the rest of its season, begin planning for the 2017-18 season, and conduct a nationwide search for the new executive hiring.
“SiG is delighted to have an opportunity to help the CAC and its Board of Directors during this transition. We are very impressed with the current staff and the ongoing potential of this outstanding community facility,” Williams said.
In addition to the executive leadership search, SiG will also help coordinate the search for a new director of development. For more about the Community Arts Center, visit online.