New executive director for Arts Place announced

Desiree Duell has been hired as the new executive director and CEO of Arts Place,

Inc. She succeeds Eric Rogers, who will retire July 31.

For the past 11 years, Duell has been working with the city of Flint, the Flint Public Art Project, and community organizations such as Asbury Farms and Sanctuary ArtPark to revitalize the Flint community through the arts and place-making. Previous to her work in Flint, Duell was the executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Wyoming. She has worked with numerous organizations across the United States on arts and community related projects, including PICO National Network, the Henry Ford Health System, and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development.

In addition to her nonprofit work, Duell has an independent practice as an interdisciplinary artist. Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic, Michigan Radio, Detroit Art Review and Actipedia. Duell holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from the University of Hartford’s Nomad/9 MFA Program, a Master of Arts in Community Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Maine College of Art. Desiree says she enjoys spending time with her son, David and walking her dog, Thunder Valentine.

Duell will start working at Arts Place on July 11 and officially become executive director and CEO on Aug. 1. At that time, Rogers will become the executive director emeritus and serve as an independent contractor for a one-year period to advise Duell.

Arts Place was founded in 1967 as the Portland Society for the Arts. The group changed its name to Jay County Arts Council in 1976 and hired Rogers, its first staffer, as executive director. In 2000, the arts council changed its name to Arts Place, Inc. Today, the organization serves a sixcounty area in east central Indiana and west central Ohio.

Arts Place operates centers in three cities: the Auglaize/Mercer Center in St. Marys, the Blackford County Arts Center in Hartford City, Indiana, and the Jay County Campus of Arts Place in Portland, which includes the Performing Arts Center, the Hudson Center for the Visual Arts and Arts Park.