Local arts council elects new board members

The Bloomington Area Arts Council elected seven new trustees and appointed two new board officers at its annual meeting last week at the John Waldron Arts Center.\nNew trustees elected to three-year terms by BAAC members include David Grindle, production manager for the IU Theatre and Drama Department; Carlos Colon, manager of technology services, IU Bloomington Evaluation Services and Testing; and Jocelyn Robertson, marketing assistant at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures.\nRobertson, 28, recently completed her master's in arts administration at IU, and said she is optimistic about her youthful presence on the board.\n"I think I may see things differently, perhaps bring a fresher view than more established board members," Robertson said.\nOther new trustees include John Keeling, creative director of Sunrise Greetings; Marci Widen, co-owner of Tutto Bène; Jeff Ankrom, attorney at law; and Francesca Sobrer, instructor in the theater department at Bloomington High School North.\n"It really is a time of change," Robertson said, pointing out that three major players in the BAAC -- executive director Sally Gaskill, and former presidents and current board members Ted Johns and A. John Rose -- are in the process of leaving.\nThe current board of trustees also appointed new board officers to three-year terms at last week's meeting, the 31st annually held by the BAAC.\nGerald Sousa, founder and music director of the Bloomington Chamber Singers and last year's vice president, was appointed as the board's new president.\nSharon Brehm, professor in the IU department of psychology, will serve as vice president.\nR. Gordon Hershey, coordinator of program assessment and development for the IU Groups Program, will continue as secretary, and Lance Eberle, First Insurance Group, will continue as treasurer. The election and appointments come on the heels of the BAAC's launch of a new interactive arts calendar, bloomingtonArts.info. \nTom Zoss, who is replaced by Sousa as board president after serving a maximum two consecutive terms, said he believes the change of leadership in a time of expansion is a good thing. \n"It's good to have diversity," Zoss said. "We have seven new members who all really wanted to be on the board."\nZoss said the first order of business for the newly reconfigured board will be to accept a regional and cultural needs assessment conducted over the last year. Zoss said the findings of the assessment will be incorporated into the board's formulation of a new five-year strategic plan for the council. \n"What we're finding is that what people want in a community is quality arts and good shows, not just good roads and good schools," Zoss said. "The council has always been an advocate for that"