Prescott 2050

Looking Forward: THE ARTS

Who:  Robert C. Booker, Executive Director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
When:  Monday, October 13, 2008 6:00pm
Where:  Conference room of the Yavapai College Library
What:  Arts in Prescott – Opportunities and Challenges
Why:  Prescott has a strong background in the arts. Robert Booker will discuss how other towns and cities are supporting the arts. 
Cost:  Free!

The Prescott 2050 Visioning’s Looking Forward speaker series invites the public to attend a presentation by Robert C. Booker, Executive Director, Arizona Commission on the Arts (see http://www.azarts.gov/index.htm).

Robert C. Booker, Executive Director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
Bob Booker began his career as an intern at the South Dakota Arts Council under the tutelage of Charlotte Carver and Dennis Holub. He joined the Minnesota State Arts Board in 1985 as a program officer, served as deputy director from 1990 to 1996, and was selected to head the agency in 1997. Notable among Booker’s numerous accomplishments in Minnesota were his efforts to build and sustain partnerships. He understood and invested in the power of collaboration to maximize organizational achievement.

Booker was one of the field’s cultural tourism “pioneers.” He and a handful of representatives from other state agencies came together in 1996 to create the “Explore Minnesota” store at the Mall of America--the first statewide one-stop information center for arts, cultural, historical and recreational information. That cultural tourism partnership has expanded to include promotion of arts and cultural amenities along Minnesota’s scenic byways, and other cooperative efforts to promote cultural heritage tourism in Minnesota. In 2001, the Minnesota State Arts Board was one of thirteen states selected to participate in the Wallace Foundation’s national START initiative to increase participation in the arts.

In June 2005, Booker received the Minnesota Crafts Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Two months later, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty proclaimed August 15, 2005, as Robert “Bob” C. Booker Day in Minnesota, recognizing Booker for his leadership on the Governor’s Residence Council--where he served under four Minnesota governors.

Booker has been an engaged and active leader at the regional and national level. He served on the board of Arts Midwest from 1997-2004, where he was a tireless advocate for regional, national and international exchanges. Booker has been a board member of the National Assembly of State Arts Agency (NASAA) since 1999, serving as its president in 2004 and 2005--promoting and representing state arts agency interests to Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts and the field. He has served on a variety of state arts agency panels across the country as well as panels for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Booker began his tenure as executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts in January, 2006, replacing the recently retired and legendary Shelley Cohn. According to Cohn, Bob “jumped right in to acquaint himself with new constituents and stakeholders, including a legislative body much different than Minnesota. People in Arizona have immediately reached out to him and him to them, in keeping with his open and gregarious style. One of Bob’s passions is finding appropriate leadership roles for young and emerging staff leadership. He has immediately done that here in Arizona in his hiring decisions and in taking younger staff to Washington to connect with national leadership.”
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