Panel Report Presenter Level 1, Level 2 and Projects

Memorandum

The Presenter Level 1, Level 2 and Projects grant panel meeting was held via teleconference on September 10, 2015. Twenty (20) eligible applications were reviewed and all were recommended for funding.

A complete list of all reviewed applications, with the request amounts and final scores, is provided in the following sections.

Panel comment was as follows:

A panel member requested that an organizational history section be added to the grant application for panelists who are not familiar with organizations.

Public comment was as follows:

There were no public comments.

Panel Biographies

Mark Alexander

Palm Beach County

• Theatre Director, Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth, Florida
• Previously, Executive Director at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Island, New York and the Director of Education and Community Affairs at Ruth Eckerd Hall, PACT Institute for Performing Arts
• Former board member of Clearwater Jazz Holiday Foundation and Arts for a Complete Education (ACE) and a former Board Vice President for the International Association of Performing Arts for Young People, and currently serves as an advisory board member of VSA arts of Florida – Palm Beach County and is former President of Florida Professional Presenters Consortium
• BA, Accounting and Economics, Rutgers University

Paul Berg

Hillsborough County

• Executive Director, Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa, Florida
• Previous Executive Director, The Arts Council of Northwest Florida and Michigan Performing Arts
• MBA, Arts Administration, Illinois State University

Eric Fliss

Miami-Dade County

• General Manager, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, Miami, Florida
• Previously served as Cultural Facilities Manager for the City of Miami Beach from 2002-2007 and Co-Director of Anchor Arts Management, where he provided technical to organizations such as National Performance Network, Tigertail Productions, Animated Physical Theatre and Miami-Dade College-Cultura Del Lobo Series
• Co-founded the Acme Acting Co. in Miami, Florida where he served as Artistic Director, Scenic Artist and Technical Director from 1986 – 1995
• Vice President, Florida Professional Presenters Consortium

Scott Galbraith

Orange County

• Vice President, Programming & Education, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando, Florida
• Previously Vice President, Programming, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and Associate Producer for Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth, TX
• Member of the Broadway League, and Tony Award voter

Christopher Heacox

Leon County

• Executive Director of Florida State University’s performing arts series, Opening Nights Performing Arts.
• Previously served as Executive Director of Riverside Fine Arts Series and the Friday Musicale both in Jacksonville, Flroida, Arts Administrator for the Porter Center for the Performing Arts in Brevard, South Carolina, and has also taught jazz saxophone, music theory, and music technology at the University of North Florida and Stetson University
• President of the Florida Professional Presenters Consortium and active member of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters
• MM in Performance – Jazz and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, BA in Music from Florida State University  and is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville

Suzanne Hudson-Smith

Duval County

• Director of Development, Florida Theatre
• Former of Institutional Giving, Cathedral Arts Project, Jacksonville, Florida
• Holly has previous experience in grant writing and maintaining donor relationships for local non-profit organizations in Jacksonville and service within academic environments
• Bachelor’s degree, Rollins College; Master’s degree, University of Kentucky

Suzanne Ruley

Pinellas County

• Grants Manager, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Florida
• Board Vice President, Clearwater Arts Alliance, Clearwater, Florida
• Formerly National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) Coordinator, a program of Americans for the Arts; and Cultural Affairs Specialist, Cultural Affairs Division, Parks & Recreation Dept., Clearwater, Florida
• BFA Carnegie Mellon University; MA Arts Administration, Goucher College; Certificate in Fund Raising Management, Indianapolis University Fundraising School; Certificate in Fundraising Development, Rollins College; Candidate for Certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership Indiana University; Candidate for Certificate in Executive Leadership, eCornell
• Certified Fund Raising Executive

Panel Recommendations

This list contains the panel recommendations to the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. This is not a final funding recommendation. Panel review is step 2 in a 4 step review process.