Heather Hitchens '91 Tapped to Lead NY State Council on the Arts

June 21, 2007

June 21, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has nominated Heather A. Hitchens, a 1991 graduate of DePauw University, to serve as executive director of the State Council on the Arts. The Council is dedicated to preserving and expanding the state's cultural resources and works to achieve this goal by encouraging access to the arts, defending artistic freedom, providing recognition and professional advancement for artists and arts administrators, and supporting arts education. It provides more than 2,700 grants each year to non-profit arts and cultural organizations throughout the state.

Spitzer also nominated five individuals -- including musician Natalie Merchant -- to serve on the board of the State Council on the Arts.

"With these nominations, we will help transform the state Arts Council," the governor stated. "A more diverse and daring board will build upon our state's reputation as a center of artistic creativity and expression."

Heather Hitchens currently serves as president of Meet the Composer Inc. She previously worked for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra where she held the positions of executive director and development director. After receiving her B.M. from DePauw University, Hitchens earned an M.S. in arts administration from Drexel University.

Read the announcement from the governor's office by clicking here or access a story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

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