Eduardo Garcia, the first executive director of the West Windsor Arts Council and the man who oversaw the organization’s move into its first physical home in 2010, is retiring at the end of this year after seven years on the job. The Arts Council will toast the outgoing director with a potluck dinner Friday, December 28, at 7 p.m. at the Arts Center at 952 Alexander Road.
“Join us in raising a toast to Eduardo Garcia,” board president Lisa Weil said in an E-mail invitation to WWAC members and supporters. “It is with Eduardo’s tremendous guidance that we have achieved our dream of having a home. He has been an extraordinary leader. We would not be where we are if it were not for Eduardo.”
“We’re very proud of the significant economic impact the arts council has had in central New Jersey by hiring artists and employing artist-teachers as well as full and part-time staff,” said Garcia in announcing his retirement. “I’ve fully enjoyed my time at the arts council. The community rallied by offering their skills and talents as volunteers in addition to providing significant financial support to convert an 80-year-old firehouse into a beautiful arts center serving the entire region. I also need to mention the incredible support we’ve received from the township mayor, administrative staff, and departmental staff. Together we’ve laid an important foundation upon which to build well into the future.”
To build on that foundation, the Arts Council will turn to Arin Black, who will take over as executive director on Thursday, January 3. Though the position remains part-time, Black plans to be in the building to continue to propel the arts council forward.
Black received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of New Orleans and has been associate director for the Tennessee Williams’ New Orleans Literary Festival. Transplanted from New Orleans to the greater Philadelphia area, where she is now working as a consultant, Black has experience in the arts, arts management, and fundraising.
Black was selected from a field of 70 applicants, screened by a team of eight people on the search committee. Of the 70 initial applicants, 15 were screened by telephone. Six were then interviewed in person.
A group of about a dozen West Windsor residents formed the arts council in 2002 and for years operated the organization with sporadic events held at a variety of locations around town. The organization got a boost when the developer of the Nassau Park shopping complex agreed to provide an annual contribution to the arts in West Windsor. The new arts council was charged with putting that money to work.
In 2006 the township issued a memorandum of understanding regarding its lease of the former Princeton Junction Firehouse on Alexander Road for the purpose of converting it into a permanent home for the Arts Council. That year Garcia, a former Plainsboro resident who has been both a playwright and an arts administrator in his long career, was hired as executive director, a part-time position.
In 2010, after the firehouse, built in 1931, underwent some $800,000 in renovations by the township, the arts council finally took occupancy.
In announcing Garcia’s retirement the West Windsor Arts Council noted that it was “positioning itself to weather the many challenges facing arts organizations today” with “a three-year strategic plan that charts a path for success with a focus on the following areas: to strengthen the organizational structure and financial means, increasing visibility, expanding programs and services, and identifying strategic partnerships.”
Retirement Party for Eduardo Garcia, West Windsor Arts Council, 952 Alexander Road. Friday, December 28, 7 p.m. 609-716-1931.
