International Festival Of Arts and Ideas Leadership Announced

Gordon Geballe, Chairman of the Board of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, today announced that Liz Fisher, Tom Griggs, and Chad Herzog have been appointed Co-Directors of the Festival, roles in which they have been serving on an interim basis since spring 2017.

Liz Fisher has served as Managing Director of the Festival since 1998. Tom Griggs has served as Director of Development since 2014. Chad Herzog has served as Director of Programming since 2015. They will continue focusing on their areas of expertise, while equally sharing executive leadership responsibilities.

"On behalf of the entire Board, it is my honor to congratulate Liz, Tom, and Chad on their appointments," says Board Chair Gordon Geballe. "We are grateful for their stewardship of Festival 2017 and we are looking forward to continuing to work with them as they plan and execute Festival 2018. Just as the Festival has distinguished itself for its thrilling interplay between great art and great ideas from around the world, I believe their successful creative approach to shared leadership will serve as a model for institutions across the field."

"The Festival has exceeded even the wildest dreams Anne Calabresi, Jean Handley, and I had when we started it in 1996, due in no small part to the creativity and dedication that Liz, Tom, and Chad have demonstrated individually and as a team," says Co-Founder Roslyn Meyer. "I couldn't be more delighted that they are leading us into our 23rd year and I'm certain that Festival 2018 will be better than ever in their supremely capable hands."

In addition, the Board of Directors also recently welcomed seven members, representing New Haven's richly diverse intersection of higher education, culture, and business: Joe Bertolino, President of Southern Connecticut State University; Paul Broadie II, President of both Gateway Community College and Housatonic Community College; Diane Brown, Manager of the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library; Courtney Cupples, Biopharmaceutical Executive; Donna Curran, founder and owner of Zinc Restaurant and Kitchen Zinc; Kimberly Goff-Crews, Secretary and Vice President for Student Life at Yale University; and Kerry Alys Robinson, Founding Executive Director and Global Ambassador of Leadership Roundtable.

Tom Calvocoressi, The Reverend Kevin Ewing, Kim Healey, Constance Royster, and Susan Stone all completed their full nine-year terms of service in October, with Mr. Calvocoressi serving an addition two years as Treasurer.

Continuing on the Board are Vice Chairs Bruce Alexander, Susan Bryson, and Elsie Chapman, Secretary G. Penn Holsenbeck, and Directors Lourdes Alvarez, Founding Director Anne Tyler Calabresi, Priscilla Dannies, Lisa Delfini, Deborah D. Desir, Jody Ellant, Louise Endel, Denise Fiore, Marilyn Ford, Steve Glick, Pamela Griffin, Kiki Kennedy, George Knight, Founding Director Roslyn Milstein Meyer, Director Emeritus Daniel Miglio, W. Frank Mitchell, Barbara Rockenbach, Uma Shankar, Elizabeth Sledge, Michael Soileau, Stephanie Spangler, Alinor Sterling, Sandra Treviño, Caprice Taylor Mendez, and George Zdru.

The schedule of events for Festival 2018 will be announced in the spring.

Liz Fisher is the Managing Director of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, a leadership position she has held since 1998. Before moving to New Haven, she spent two years in Atlanta, Georgia, where she contracted and managed the highly acclaimed $40 million Cultural Olympiad at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. Her background is in circus; she began touring with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus when she was 17. For more than twenty years she toured with and managed a series of circuses, spending the last four as the Associate General Manager of New York's Big Apple Circus. She is married to John Fisher, Executive Director of the Shubert Theater and serves on the board of Saint Martin de'Porres Academy.

Thomas Griggs served on the Board for seven years before joining the staff as Director of Development for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in 2014. Prior to the Festival, Mr. Griggs worked in the Yale-New Haven Hospital Office of Development, where he oversaw Corporate and Foundation Giving. He has also enjoyed successful careers in realty and banking, the latter for more than 20 years, in various branch and management positions at People's Bank, Telephone Banking, and People's Corporate University. He has served the field on various local and national boards and committees, including Gateway Community College (2009-present), The Connecticut Alliance for Arts Education (1996-2004), the National Governance Committee of The Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network (2001-2003), Creative Arts Workshop (1990-2015), the City of New Haven Cultural Affairs Commission (2001-2007), and has also dedicated his time to the New Haven Preservation Trust, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Long Wharf Theatre, Shubert Theater, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, as well as serving as an Associate Fellow of Yale University's Branford College. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut School of Business and an MBA from the University of New Haven.

Chad Herzog joined the International Festival of Arts & Ideas as Director of Programming in June 2015, and is responsible for conceiving, developing, and implementing its year-round artistic and humanities events. Previously he served as Director of the Performing Arts and curator of the performance series at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he grew participation in the arts by over 600% and integrated arts and culture into all aspects of campus life. Chad has served on the boards of Big Brother Big Sisters Huntingdon County, Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania, FOCUS Dance, Gotham Arts Exchange, Huntingdon Arts Festival, the Huntingdon County Arts Council, North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents, Pennsylvania Presenters, and Penn State Public Media. Chad is a frequent speaker and panelist as well as invited international delegate to numerous arts and culture forums including Americans for the Arts National Arts Marketing Project, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, danceNYC, EMC2, the Edinburgh Festival, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and South by Southwest. Chad created and developed articulture, a community supported arts program; serves as an executive producer on the soon to be released feature film Spell; and is the original producer of One Radio Host, Two Dancers: Ira Glass, Monica Bill Barnes, and Anna Bass in Concert. Chad holds a BA in Arts Administration and Communication from Juniata College and MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College.

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is a year-round organization that culminates with an annual celebration of performing arts, lectures, and conversations each June in New Haven, Connecticut. The Festival convenes leading artists, thought leaders, and innovators from around the world for 15 days of dynamic public programs to engage, entertain, and inspire a diversity of communities. More than 80% of Festival programs are free to the public, including events that feature some of the most influential jazz, classical, dance, and theater artists of our time.

The Festival takes place in venues and open spaces in downtown New Haven, in the heart of the northeast corridor, two and a half hours south of Boston and ninety minutes north of New York City.

The Festival's programs have an impact throughout the year and include additional performances, educational opportunities, and the annual Visionary Leadership Award. The Festival was established in 1996, by Anne Calabresi, Jean M. Handley, and Roslyn Meyer. They envisioned an annual celebration in New Haven-a city steeped in a rich array of cultural and educational traditions-distinguished from other arts festivals by its fusion of the arts with events centered on sharing ideas.

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