Local arts leader steps down

Sally Gaskill is resigning as executive director of the Bloomington Area Arts Council after five years of service.\nGaskill, whose tenure began in 2000, will step down Sept. 30, capping a successful term during which BAAC programs were greatly expanded and the council's massive debt was nearly erased. \n"When I came here in 2000, I planned to stay in the position for just nine months," Gaskill said laughing.\nHaving spent the last 12 years managing arts councils both in Bloomington and New York, Gaskill will not abandon the arts community. She currently sits on a national board that advocates for federal funding of the arts, and she captains arts advocacy efforts for the state of Indiana. Even with an equally full plate, she welcomes the coming changes.\n"I'm going to begin a new phase in my professional development, and I should finally have adequate time to devote to my students," said Gaskill, who is an adjunct professor in the arts administration program at IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.\nTom Zoss, president of the BAAC's board of trustees, plans to assemble an external search committee that will be charged with finding Gaskill's \nreplacement.\n"The first task of the committee will be to assess the needs of the job and, if needed, rewrite the job description," said Zoss, who refers to the position as a dream job because of its salary, benefits and location.\nAssembling the committee could take approximately three weeks, and the drafting of an updated job description could take a subsequent six to eight. Despite the added work that will factor into replacing the outgoing director, Zoss emphasized Gaskill's resignation involved no bitterness and was not forced.\n"She felt it was time to move on," said Zoss, "and there are always tensions in those situations because there's no good time for change -- it is a complication, but it's an opportunity as well."\nGaskill's departure comes as two major BAAC projects finally materialize. The 2005 Cultural Development Plan will be released Sept. 30 and a new Web site, bloomingtonarts.info, will be launched in the coming weeks. The city, University and council collaborated on the effort to promote cultural tourism in the area. The finished Web site will provide a centralized calendar of local arts events and a ticketing service.\n"It is strange to think that the mission of the BAAC has been to establish such a thing since it was formed, but it took until the Internet came along to be able to do it," said Zoss.\nThe BAAC, which was formed in 1974, coordinates a variety of arts programs in and around Bloomington and operates the John Waldron Arts Center. Recent collaborations with a variety of local partners and the city of Bloomington have elevated the BAAC's productivity and purpose. Gaskill is aware of these changes and credits her administration with improving the condition of arts in the community.\n"Over my five years here, we've effectively changed the image of arts in Bloomington," she said.\n"Certainly, local patrons of the arts support art's role in the quality of life, but before 2000, I don't think people in Bloomington saw the arts as a valid economic stimulator -- the idea of arts as an economic engine is new."\nWith local officials, including Mayor Mark Kruzan, currently willing to support arts programs in the community, the BAAC is in a position to further its growth. Since 2000, the BAAC reduced a debt of $1.3 million to less than $40,000. Still, Gaskill remains most proud of the grander cultural impressions her administration has made.\n"I am proud to have helped reduce the debt, but I am also proud of what we've done to serve artists, educate the community about the arts, and change the way people access their information," she said.