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President Bush Announces Nomination of Idaho Arts Executive Mark Hofflund to Serve on the National Council on the Arts
August 1, 2005 Washington, D.C. - President George W. Bush has nominated Idaho Shakespeare Festival managing director Mark Hofflund (Boise, ID) to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts. National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia said of his nomination, "Mr. Hofflund has helped to make the Idaho Shakespeare Festival one of the premier theater venues in America. He is an indefatigable champion of bringing great theater to a broad public. I'm sure that he will be an important leader on the Council." In his thirteenth year with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and its artistic director Charles Fee, Mark Hofflund has worked with 11 board presidents in leading community efforts to secure the first permanent home for the Festival and its production shops. Mr. Hofflund started his professional career as an actor/understudy, assistant director, and dramaturgical associate for more than 50 productions at The Old Globe in San Diego. He became the director of the Globe's Play Discovery Program, served on the board of the San Diego Performing Arts League, and edited his mentor Alan Schneider's memoir Entrances, published by Viking. He has guided the growth of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival through a six-fold increase in annual operations, a four-fold increase in permanent staff, a doubling of both mainstage audiences and students served through statewide educational tours, and a debt elimination campaign and merger with Idaho Theater for Youth. He is also a liaison to the Idaho Foundation for Parks and Lands and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, whose partnership made construction of the Festival's 12-acre Amphitheater and Reserve possible. Mr. Hofflund served on the board of The Shakespeare Theatre Association of America; was appointed for eight years to the Boise City Arts Commission (including a term as co-chair); and was recently elected to the board of the Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has chaired the Idaho Commission on the Arts since 2001, and will participate in Idaho's hosting of the 2005 conference of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, in September. He holds degrees from Princeton and the University of California, San Diego. Mr. Hofflund’s nomination will be reviewed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Sen. Mike Gregg (R-WY) is the committee chairman and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) is the ranking member. Once confirmed, Mr. Hofflund will serve until September 2008. The National Council on the Arts advises the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts on policies, programs, and procedures for carrying out the agency's functions, duties and responsibilities. Council members are chosen for their widely recognized knowledge of the arts, their expertise or profound interest in the arts, and their established record of distinguished service or achievement in the arts. For more information about the National Council on the Arts and its Members, visit http://www.arts.gov/about/NCA/About_NCA.html or contact the NEA Office of Communications at 202-682-5570.
National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency |
