Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Announces Retirement
by Jami Goldstein
Wayne P. Lawson, Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Council for 27 years, announced his retirement today, effective March 1, 2006.
Long hailed as the most visionary arts leader in the country, Lawson’s groundbreaking initiatives have made the Ohio Arts Council one of the foremost state arts councils in America in terms of funding, both public and private, long-range planning and evaluation, support for individual artists and innovative services to constituents in all arts disciplines. Beloved by his Council Board and staff and highly respected in the Ohio arts community, he will be sincerely missed.
“Wayne has long been the driving force behind one of the most, if not THE most, successful and respected state arts agencies in the country,” said Susan Sofia, Ohio Arts Council Board chair. “His relentless pursuit of innovation and resources for the Ohio Arts Council is to be commended. Wayne is truly one of those individuals who when faced with an obstacle, instead of asking ‘why?’ asks ‘why not?’ His tenacity and devotion to the expansion of arts participation and arts education in all Ohio communities will continue to have resonance for many years. Ohio has been well served by Wayne Lawson.”
Commenting on his tenure at the agency, Lawson said, “I have been privileged to work with a dedicated board, an extremely intelligent and talented staff and with some of the best arts administrators and artists in the state, region and country. Every day has been an adventure. It is time to turn over the reins to a new generation of leadership. The executive directorship of the OAC has been the best job anyone could have.”
Wayne Lawson began working at the Ohio Arts Council in 1975 and became the fourth executive director in May 1978. During his tenure he has helped stimulate an arts climate in Ohio that gives artists, arts administrators and the public access to the Ohio Arts Council. By encouraging people in the arts to become involved with the distribution of Ohio tax dollars for the arts, to voice their opinions on arts policy and programming during public meetings held around the state, and by limiting the bureaucratic red tape of the agency, Lawson continues to keep the door to the OAC wide open to all interested individuals and groups. The keys to his administration are accessibility and accountability.
Lawson, who was born in Cleveland, received a B.A. in Romance languages, an M.A. in European literature and earned his doctorate in theater and comparative literature from The Ohio State University. He holds a certificate in Spanish literature from the University of Madrid and an honorary doctorate from Rio Grande College, Ohio.
Lawson spent several years traveling through Europe, working on a kibbutz in Israel, directing OSU’s Study Abroad Program in comparative literature, teaching English to businessmen in European corporations and completing two U.S. Department of Education fellowships in England and Scandinavia.
He served as the first chairman of the Division of Comparative Literature Department in the College of Humanities at The Ohio State University until 1974. In 1972 he received The Alumni Distinguished teaching award, one of OSU’s most prestigious teaching awards. Lawson is an adjunct professor of art education at OSU where he teaches graduate courses in public policy and the arts. From November 2003-January 2004 Lawson co-hosted Ohio Arts Alive, a new WOSU public radio series that recognizes the diverse arts offerings in Ohio.
He serves on the evaluation team of Young Audiences, New York City, and was a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Mandel Center, a collaborative program for nonprofit organizations sponsored by the Schools of Applied Social Science, Law and Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He served a three-year term as chairman of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and completed three terms as chairman of Arts Midwest.
Lawson served on many program panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and has been chairman of the NEA State Programs Advisory Panel. He served as chair of the Arts in Underserved Communities Panel of the NEA's State and Regional Programs and coordinated private fundraising efforts for the NEA's Challenge III program, which provided funding to individual artists in seven states. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts and the Music-Theatre Group in New York. He serves in an advisory position to the Friends of the Ludwig Foundation, Inc. in New York City. He also sits on the board of the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission.
Lawson began the OAC's International Program with a cultural exchange between Ohio and India in 1988. Since then he has raised more than $4 million in private funds to support international exchanges of visual and performing arts. The OAC's International Program has promoted exchanges between Ohio and Japan, China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Chile and Easter Island. With assistance from private funders and the National Endowment for the Arts, the OAC's ArtsLink program helps Ohio arts organizations develop residencies with arts managers and artists from Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. Lawson has led numerous arts delegations to Russia, Japan, Mexico, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Cuba, Chile and Argentina.
In 1989 Lawson founded the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery to showcase the work of Ohio's artists and curators, exhibitions produced by the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program and the collections of the region’s museums and galleries.
Lawson was a guest scholar at San Angelo State University in Texas and sat on the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Selection Committee for three years. He has been a speaker at a variety of colleges, universities and state agencies throughout the country and abroad. He has lectured on public policy in the arts at a variety of academic institutions and acted as a facilitator for strategic planning at arts organizations around the country.
A search committee comprised of Ohio Arts Council board members has been appointed to conduct a national search for Lawson’s replacement. Upon his retirement he will be appointed Director Emeritus of the Ohio Arts Council. Lawson will teach classes in the Arts Administration and Public Policy Program of The Ohio State University and work with the Ohio Arts Foundation, Inc. on international cultural exchange projects.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
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