NEW CLARICE SMITH CENTER DIRECTOR FROM CALIFORNIA KNOWN FOR INNOVATION

By Virginia Terhune, Gazette.Net

Martin Wollesen plans to bring the same inventiveness to his new job as executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park that he did to his previous job in California.

“I’m really excited about making the move,” said Wollesen, who succeeds Susie Farr on Oct. 1,

Farr is retiring after 14 years as executive director of the arts center at the University of Maryland,

Wollesen will be working with the UMD School of Music and also the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. He will also be overseeing the visiting artists’ program, raising funds and finding new ways to connect students and the public to the arts at the university.

For the past nine years, Wollesen has been director of events and artistic director for ArtPower!, the program for visiting artists at the University of California in San Diego.

During his years there, he earned a reputation for innovation as a way to engage both nonperforming students and general audiences in music, dance, and film programs.

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