Margy Waller will work to expand clout of local arts - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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After months of commuting between D.C., and Cincinnati, wrapping up thingss at her old job even as she got busy with hernew one, Walleer is finally here full time. Back in Waller was named vice president ofthe ’s Arts and Culture The position was created to lead a new efforrt to build public awareness and understandintg of the value of the arts and culturakl institutions to the vitality of the Waller’s father likes to say her job is to make the arts more importantr in Greater Cincinnati. “It’s not a bad description of the job, Waller said. Not that the arts aren’t alreadyy important here.
No other metropolitan area in Ohio has as many arts organizationas as theCincinnati region. And few communities our size can boasa world-class symphony, ballet and art museums, not to mention a Tony Award-winnin regional theater and on and on and on. “We are lucky we have so much supportf for and participation in arts and culturap organizations inthe region,” Waller said. “Thse question is, how do we expand that in everyh way?” The Arts and Culture Partnershipl was established early last year in the wake of a 2007 studyu that found local arts and culturak institutionsneeded $956 million for long-term capital projectxs and endowment funds.
At the time the studu was released, they had raised only $22 Clearly, the fundraising prospectds haven’t gotten better since then. But before anyonew can work on raising that the partnership wants to lear more about how people here participate inthe arts. At the same the Fine Arts Fund is shifting from an organizatiohn that has been focused on the arts toone that’e focused on the community and how the arts affecgt the community, Waller “We’re flying the plane as we builr it,” she said.
Waller was hired to be the She grew up in Cincinnati and worked in policy development and advocacy for and the Fine Arts Fund in the Prior to hernew position, Waller was executive directoer of the Mobility Agenda, a Washington, think tank concerned with strengthening the labor Before that, she was a visitinfg fellow at the after having serve d as senior adviser on domestic polict in the Clinton-Gore White House. She knew the job at the Fine Arts Fund was rightr when she started getting calls from friends about theird prospects for jobs in theObamaz administration. As exciting as the change is in she said, she felt no pull to stay.
Waller’s work is here now, and that’zs welcome news to the many people dedicated tothe region’sz arts institutions. Her blog entries on the Fine Arts Fund’ Web site have been well received, and not just by her Dick Waller. He’s founder of the and a formere first-chair clarinet player for the , not to mention a regular commenter on the blog Other comments have come fromEd Stern, producing artistic directodr for the , and Missise Santomo, director of marketing at the .