A note from the CAC’s New Director, Danielle Brazell
Dear Colleagues,
As your new executive director of the California Arts Council I am hitting the ground running and wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.
Like you, I am a fierce advocate for arts, culture, and creativity.
In 1992, I stumbled upon a free performance art workshop taught by the legendary performance artist Tim Miller at the height of the AIDS pandemic. The free workshop was held every Saturday at Highways Performance Space. The California Arts Council funded the workshop through its Artist in Residence grant program. For a young queer artist, this access and experience transformed my life and its possibility.
The encounter led to a ten-year apprenticeship and launched my career in the arts. I learned to live and work as an artist, teaching artist, and arts administrator. Under the sage mentorship of the artistic director, Tim Miller, associate artistic directors Jordan Peimer, Nicole Werner, and many others, I learned how to produce, present, manage, fundraise, mobilize, and market “the work.” I built the skills and core competencies needed to lead with my vision and values squarely intact. From this launch point, I worked hard… very hard (just like you) to carve a career path in the nonprofit arts and cultural sector.
Nonprofit arts organizations are centers of innovation, workforce development, and community empowerment and foster civic life. I am excited to step into this new role and serve the people of California by expanding access to arts, culture, and creative expression to everyone and in every community of our great state.
Throughout my years of service, I am reminded of the following:
- Government relies on effective partnerships with the nonprofit sector;
- The field is a powerful force for good in communities throughout our great state;
- Our authorizing environment responds to data-informed impact,
- The CAC staff are field experts and we are your partners in advancing the arts in all aspects of civic life.
As I lean into this role, you can be assured that I will bring my lived experience, decades of experience, and my deep commitment to fostering a dialogue through arts, culture, and creativity to advance our civil society,
Together we are extraordinary! We create belonging, economic possibilities for our communities, and build meaningful and resilient lives for over 30-million Californians and xx visitors annually.
Onward!
Danielle
