BAC hires new executive director

The Brewery Arts Center Board of Directors voted this week to hire John Shelton, former director of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, as executive director of the Brewery Arts Center.

He replaces John Procaccini, who resigned as executive director last month after 51⁄2 years in the position.

Shelton has worked for cultural nonprofits, in government and the business sector for 29 years. His most recent position was founding partner at Impresario Management, a Reno private consulting firm to nonprofit organizations. Before that, Shelton was executive director of the Pioneer Center in Reno. He has also worked as a program director for the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the Nevada Arts Council.

According to a press release, during his nine years at Pioneer Center, Shelton increased use and programming of the facility, tripled the operational budget, established the state's largest arts subscription-based audience, created the Broadway Comes to Reno series, and raised more than half a million dollars in support of center improvements.

He received a Governor's Tourism Award in 1994. Shelton is the immediate past chair of the Reno Arts & Culture Commission and a past vice president of the Western Arts Alliance. He has a business degree from Western Illinois University.

"I am extremely pleased to be offered this position and look forward to what I feel is a tremendous opportunity for both the community and me," Shelton said in a release. "The Brewery Arts Center is a long standing and respected institution, established as one of Nevada's very first local arts councils. Just as it has a solid history, the Center also has a very bright future ahead for itself as Carson City's redevelopment continues to move forward. I look forward to upholding the Center's reputation for quality arts-based programming, while expanding those services and providing options to the growing needs of a larger and more diverse community."

BAC Chairman Bruce Robertson said, "We are thrilled and gratified that the board affirmed our number one choice for this critical position. John Shelton's tenure with the arts in Nevada, and his experience with cultural nonprofits, provides us with a unique perspective for reshaping the future of the Brewery Arts Center, getting back to the roots of its mission and positioning the Center to better serve Carson City's cultural needs. Shelton is the perfect executive to lead the center during recessionary times and the right person to collaborate with local artists, business and public agencies in pursuing a vibrant local arts environment."

Shelton was selected by BAC's executive search committee through an extensive regional search. Shelton will begin his duties Oct. 4.