Jacob's Pillow Names New General Manager
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BECKET, Mass. — Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival has named Andrea Sholler, former associate director of The Tow Foundation and executive director of Dance Theater Workshop, its general manager.
Sholler will assume the position on May 18, returning to the institution where she began her career from 1983 to 1985 as the Pillow’s first development associate. Jacob’s Pillow, located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, is a National Historic Landmark, National Medal of Arts recipient, and home to America's longest running dance festival.
As general manager, Andrea Sholler will work closely with executive and artistic director Ella Baff to achieve the Pillow’s strategic goals. She will oversee the administration and overall operations of all areas of Jacob’s Pillow, including the education, development, finance, marketing, operations, production, and preservation departments, and will manage staff in the successful implementation of their strategic, programmatic and financial goals.
“Andrea is an experienced and highly respected colleague in the cultural field. I am thrilled to welcome her back to the Pillow. Andrea brings all the essentials to the job: an impressive track record in arts administration and a long-held passion for Jacob’s Pillow," Baff said. "The board and staff look forward to working with her.”
“I've been so impressed with the way that Ella Baff and the Jacob's Pillow Board and staff have led this American cultural icon forward over the last decade. I am honored to join the Pillow leadership team and am looking forward to becoming a member of the very dynamic Berkshire-area cultural community in which Jacob's Pillow flourishes,” Sholler said.
Prior to joining The Tow Foundation, Sholler was the executive director of Dance Theater Workshop in New York City, where she played a major role in the organization's merger with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. She served as a program officer with both the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Altman Foundation, and was a producer of DANCENOW/NYC. Sholler is a trustee of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and a program consultant for The Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation. She is a founding co-chair of the Non-Family Senior Staff Peer Network for the National Center for Family Philanthropy and is currently serving as a mentor in Philanthropy New York’s Young Leaders Breakfast Club. Sholler has been an active member of New York Grantmakers in the Arts, Philanthropy New York, Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, and Media Impact Funders. She earned a B.A. in American Studies from Barnard College.
Sholler was selected through a nationwide search conducted by the executive placement firm Lois L. Lindauer Searches. She succeeds the Pillow's general manager of 12 years, Connie Chin, who relocated to Boston in November 2014 to serve as Chief Operating Officer for the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
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