Kate Francis, president and managing director of the Orpheum Theatre, has been appointed to the Illinois Arts Council Presenters Program Advisory Panel effective May 1st.
The Illinois Arts Council was established in 1965 by the Illinois General Assembly for the purpose of encouraging development of the arts throughout Illinois. The Council receives annual funding from the Illinois State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Illinois Arts Council has a total of fourteen advisory panels which are comprised of volunteer, statewide experts who assist the Council in the review of grant applications, lend expertise on policy and program development and conduct on-site evaluations of applicants.
Ms. Francis, who has served as Orpheum Theatre president since April 2007, has been appointed to the Presenters Program Advisory Panel - which reviews grant applications from organizations with distinct programs that contract professional performing arts offerings produced or created under another organization's auspices. The Orpheum Theatre's three year-old Red Carpet Series is one such example.
"Our community is a direct beneficiary of the Illinois Arts Council's mission, values and financial resources. The Orpheum Theatre has received Illinois Arts Council funding for the Red Carpet Series for the past two years," said Jan Occhi, Orpheum Theatre board chair. "The Orpheum board is proud of the recognition Ms. Francis" appointment to the Illinois Arts Council's advisory panel brings to our organization."
The Orpheum Theatre has applied for Illinois Arts Council funding in 2009 for the Red Carpet Series; however, Ms. Francis will not participate in the Orpheum's grant review or scoring.
Ms. Francis joins four other panelists from the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), McKendree University's Hettenhausen Center for the Arts (Lebanon), The Chicago Dancing Company (Chicago) and University of Illinois' Sangamon Auditorium (Springfield) who will review more than fifty applications for funding for the agency's upcoming fiscal year. In fiscal year 2008, the Illinois Arts Council's Presenters Program Advisory Panel awarded more than $300,000 to select applicants.
"I am honored to serve the Illinois Arts Council, my fellow arts organizations and my community in this capacity," Ms. Francis said. "I echo the Council's mission and ongoing commitment to ensuring arts organizations like the Orpheum Theatre have a voice and presence as viable economic development engines as well as contributors to our overall quality of life."
Kate Francis, managing director and president of the Orpheum Theatre, introduces The Temptations during a performance at the theatre |
|
