ST. LOUIS, MO – Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe and Missouri Arts Council Director Michael Donovan are pleased to announce Rick Duplissie as Missouri Arts Council Deputy Director, effective October 3, 2022.
“We are excited to welcome Rick to the team at the Missouri Arts Council,” Lieutenant Governor Kehoe said. “The Arts have a profound impact on Missourians and the Missouri Arts Council strengthens the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of our state. We are pleased to have the Council as a part of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.”
“I look forward to adding Rick’s experience and leadership to the exceptional team in place at the Missouri Arts Council,” Michael Donovan said. “His skill set and expertise will help us address a variety of statewide needs with the arts.”
“I’ve always been drawn to the arts, be it teaching at a high school or collegiate setting or performing in community theater,” Rick Duplissie said. “I’ve been lucky to have had a wide array of arts opportunities in my career. I’ve managed a professional theater, curated arts festivals, and most recently, built a new performing arts center and brought it to life replete with diverse programming. This position at the Missouri Arts Council will combine all these experiences and skill sets. I couldn’t be happier to join THE arts team in my home state.”
Rick Duplissie is an experienced performing arts administrator with documented success in targeting new audiences and stewarding relationships with key stakeholders and donor bases. He has two decades in nonprofit management, audience development, producing new works, data mining, and planning large-scale events. He combines a strong business background with a keen instinct for arts partnership born of organizational communication and strategic planning. He comes to the Missouri Arts Council from the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, which he joined as general manager in January 2020.
About the Missouri Arts Council
The Missouri Arts Council provides support to nonprofit organizations through grants that meet its strategic goals: 1) engage people in meaningful arts experiences, 2) grow Missouri’s economy using the arts, and 3) strengthen Missouri education through the arts. Missouri Arts Council funding makes quality arts programming possible in communities statewide. The Council also provides expertise in community development, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, arts education, and artistic disciplines (visual arts, music, literature, theater, dance, festivals, and film/media).
Established as a state agency in 1965, the Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. The Council is funded through the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Cultural Trust, and National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information on the Missouri Arts Council, contact Barbara MacRobie, public information coordinator, barbara.macrobie@ltgov.mo.gov, 314-340-6852, www.missouriartscouncil.org.
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