From Center for the Arts:
The Board of Trustees of the Center for the Arts (CFA) announces the following staffing changes:
Effective August 27, Carolyn Evans, Esq. will assume the role of interim chief executive officer to replace outgoing CEO Kathy Smith, who is leaving to accept an appointment with the State of Maryland.
Amanda Pugh has been promoted to manager of marketing and development for the organization. Since 2014 Pugh has served as part-time grants and development coordinator for CFA. Her new role becomes effective on August 31.
The board also shared that, within the past few days, the Center for the Arts has received commitments of two donations totaling $125,000. Board member and arts advocate Barbara Stratton donated $25,000 to CFA and the donor of the remaining $100,000 wishes to remain anonymous. Both gifts are restricted and will be used exclusively for the construction of the new center.
Evans will assume the role of interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a permanent replacement. A local attorney and partner in the law firm of Sengstacke & Evans, LLC, Evans has served on the board of the Center for the Arts since January of 2014. She has also co-chaired the non-profit’s annual Dancing for the Arts Gala for the past two years, and participated as a celebrity dancer and top fundraiser in the 2013 event. Evans currently also sits on the board of directors for Harford Bank, the Chesapeake Professional Women’s Network and Harford Community College Foundation, and is an active member and past president of the Bel Air Rotary Club. She holds an undergraduate degree from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and received her law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
According to Evans, “Despite my other obligations, I gladly stepped up to serve as interim CEO because I am passionate about keeping the new Center for the Arts moving forward. I look forward to ensuring a seamless transition between the outgoing CEO and her permanent replacement so we don’t miss a beat in keeping up the momentum we’ve been able to build over the past few years.”
Evans will fill in for Smith, who is leaving CFA to accept an appointment in Governor Hogan’s Administration as the Assistant Secretary of State overseeing the Charity and Legal Services Divisions. Smith says, “I am humbled to have served beside an inspiring board of trustees, staff and volunteers. What an incredible honor to serve alongside many passionate artists, art lovers and supporters, business and community leaders and elected officials in support of this important mission. I have every confidence the board and new CEO will enjoy great success as they forge ahead to make the Center for the Arts a reality and positively impact Harford County’s economy, quality of life and much more!”
As the new manager of marketing and development for CFA, Pugh will oversee fundraising efforts and direct content for communications with area residents and the business community. Amanda Pugh earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Arts Administration from Goucher College, and was recently recognized as a rising star in the nonprofit sector by The Daily Record in the “20 in Their Twenties” feature. She is an accomplished cello player and was a professional dancer before joining the Center for the Arts in 2014.
Of her new role at CFA Pugh says, “I am so excited about this opportunity. As an artist myself, I know the positive impact the arts can have so I am passionate about developing resources and partnerships to help the Center for the Arts build a visual and performing arts center in Harford County.”
CFA Board of Trustees President Toby Musser says, “We are happy to welcome Carolyn Evans as our interim CEO while we continue to conduct a search for a permanent replacement. On behalf of the board I sincerely thank Kathy Smith for her valuable contributions and insights throughout her term as CEO. She has been a dedicated leader and we are indebted to her for all she has accomplished with her savvy business acumen, dedication and advocacy on behalf of CFA. The legacy she leaves behind is a great one, and we look forward to building on the momentum she helped create as we move forward to construct a home for arts in the heart of Harford County.”
Regarding the appointment of Pugh he adds, “The entire board is delighted to have Amanda in this new position. We know her energy, professional expertise and personal experiences as part of the arts community will be great assets as we move forward and achieve our goal of building a Center for the Arts.”
Please…….the hits just keep on coming with these people. Can we all agree to not give this crew another dime til there is accurate financial reporting, transparency, competence, coherence and SOME accomplishment. this is ten years of wasted money. $ 2 million …… Gone! And three signs in the ground. And still no other practical progress. And 3 more iterations of a preposterous unrealistic plan. Have you seen the absurd financial projections of their new plans? They’re making fools of us all. My God. This would be comical if there weren’t so many good people being taken advantage of.
990 forms (non profits file 990 tax forms with the IRS) are, or should be, available upon request to the non profit. They can also be found at guidestar.org. I just checked Guidestar and the last three years of 990 forms are available to download in pdf format for the Center for the Arts Harford County.
Wow, $125,000 donated – congrats! At this rate they should have around $5000 in their account by the end of the year!
Amen Joe! An then it will likely be time for another re-calibration of the bookkeeping. Here’s our only hope: Ms. Evans, who is honest, of good faith, and a professional, will, upon further inspection, a) will discover extensive non-transparency and misrepresentation over the last ten years, and b) realize how insanely unrealistic it is to believe that this crew can build ANYTHING, or garner the trust and respect of enough people to actually raise $ 25 million ( they’ve been at it for 10 years, have spent $1.9 miliion and have about about $ 40k in the bank; do the math). Preposterous! Carolyn, we’re counting on you to do the right thing…. you always have.
If you would like a.iist of the 17 items that you need to investigate, please post here, and we will get them to you. You have an opportunity to not have your name associated with this anymore, and to save a lot of good and generous people’s money.
the bookkeeping for the restricted $100k should be very interesting and amusing to say the least. If only the CFA posted their financials on their website like other 501c3’s do, we could have a good laugh (or cry).