Member News and NASAA Resources

Mike Markey Is Executive Director in Nebraska

The Nebraska Arts Council has chosen Mike Markey as its next executive director. He immediately takes over a position that has been vacant since January, after the retirement of former Executive Director Suzanne Wise. Markey began working with the Arts Council in 2009 as the arts industry manager and was made grants manger in 2013. He became deputy director in 2015, and has been serving as interim director since January. Prior to working with the Arts Council, Markey served as managing director of the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival for 18 years. Before that he was one of the founding members of Omaha’s Circle Theatre. Markey is an actor and director with professional experience in film and on stage. He received his master of fine arts degree in theatre management from Florida State University and a master’s degree in people’s theatre from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Harold Steward to Join NEFA as ED

The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) has announced that Harold Steward (they/he) will join the organization as its next executive director, effective July 10. Steward is a cultural strategist, philosopher and educator from Dallas, Texas. They joined The Theater Offensive in Boston as managing director in 2017 and currently serve as executive director and cultural strategist, overseeing all operational and artistic functions of the organization. Steward previously served as manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center, a division of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, which provides instruction and enrichment in the arts with an emphasis on the African contribution to world culture. In 2009, Steward founded Fahari Arts Institute in Dallas after recognizing a gap in the landscape for local LGBTQ artists of color in Dallas. Steward is a member of the board of directors of Theater Communications Group, where they are cochair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. They are board treasurer for the National Performance Network, board clerk for MassCreative and a steering committee member of the Black Theater Commons. Steward is a founding member of NextGen National Arts Network and founding partner of Steward Cultural Development Group. They served as a cultural equity facilitator with Equity Quotient and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Theatre Studies at Emerson College, where their current research interests include the queer trap aesthetic in American theatre and identity reclamation, the process in which oppressed individuals reclaim agency over their identity through cultural production. Steward will succeed Cathy Edwards, who held the role from 2015 until May 2022; since then, NEFA has been led by Interim Executive Director/COO Jug Chokshi in partnership with Deputy Director, Programs, Jane Preston and in collaboration with other senior staff.

New Trainings for Creative Aging Programmers

Lifetime Arts has launched two new resources for agencies, organizations and individuals pursuing creative aging programming. A free webinar, Creativity and Connection: Engaging Older Adults through the Arts, demonstrates how libraries are using creative aging programming to engage older adult patrons and form new cross-sector partnerships. In addition to insights about library programs, the webinar shares key techniques for social engagement and art making with older adults, and offers a preview of a new online course offered by Lifetime Arts. The self-paced course, Creative Aging Foundations On Demand, helps institutions and individuals plan successful, participatory art-making programming for older adults. It provides some fundamental anti-ageism and creative aging concepts as well as practical advice on partnership building and program design. The six learning modules feature nearly 80 videos that detail the creative aging arts education learning model, demonstrate creative aging classes, and feature interviews, case discussions and programming examples with experts in the field.

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