West Valley Magazine, February 2011, Mover, Julie Richard
Posted on 25. Feb, 2011 by trish in West Valley 24
Since becoming president and CEO of the West Valley Arts Council in June 2004, Julie Richard has broadened the organization’s reach and scope beyond the region’s southwest cities. Under her direction, many new programs have been created while the relationships and partnerships she has developed have brought the Council to a new level.
Richard has led the West Valley Arts Council as it has grown beyond an events-driven association to an all-encompassing arts council. “We serve artists and other arts organizations in the West Valley, provide programming, and we are a resource for arts and culture throughout the greater Phoenix area,” she said. She has spearheaded nationally recognized arts education partnerships as well as the West Valley Cultural and Heritage Blueprint which brought together 13 cities to create a cultural development plan for the West Valley. “It was an unprecedented study involving such a broad region and number of cities,” Richard said. “The resulting Blueprint has been the Arts Council’s focus for the past three years and all the West Valley cities have adopted it in one form or another to direct their arts and culture development.”
Years in the West Valley? 6.5
Family? Husband, Ed Buonvecchio; Cats - Kiri 15, Fafner 3.5
Favorite quote: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Who in history would you most like to have dinner with? Rudolf Nureyev (famous Russian ballet dancer)
What you miss most? The Dixie Chicks
What’s your favorite musical group? My friends and the restaurants in Syracuse, New York.
What’s your biggest inspiration and why? Marty Linsky from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He taught me to trust my instincts.
What is your favorite place/feature in the West Valley? The patio outside the Raven in Verrado.
What do you know about life that you wish you had known 10 or 20 years ago? Leading, especially leading change is a dangerous business and is not for everyone. I wish I had known the tips and tricks I learned a few years ago at Harvard’s Leading in the 21st Century class. My life would probably have been easier.
Describe yourself as a child: Overachiever
What keeps you up at night? The state of funding for the arts in Arizona.
What’s your favorite food? Pizza
One phrase you wish people would say more: “This is my issue and here’s what I’m going to do about it.”
What would you choose to do, career wise, if you weren’t in your current career? I would be a mystery writer.
What are your goals? I want to see the WV Arts Council become a major funder for arts and culture through the development of an endowment fund and the Campaign for the Arts (workplace giving).
How did you get into your current career field? I started dancing when I was three years old – saw my first ballet at age 4, starting playing the piano at 7, the trumpet at 10, got a degree in voice – it just made sense to do what I could to contribute to the field of arts and culture.
How do you feel the West Valley has affected you, and how do you feel you’ve affected the West Valley? The West Valley has reinforced in me that anything is possible. I have raised the awareness of artists in the West Valley and have created many significant programs that have brought distinction to the Council.
Who was an influence in your life/career, and how did they affect what you do? My dad always told me to work hard and I would be successful. That voice is always somewhere in the back of my head.
What’s the biggest challenge facing you in your work? Funding.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the West Valley, and how does what you do help ease those challenges? The economy is a huge challenge for everyone, especially the arts. Our programs contribute to the economy and provide an important element for economic development. Businesses will not locate in an area with no arts and culture and employees don’t want to live in an area without cultural amenities. Richard previously directed cultural and artistic resources such as the Syracuse Opera, the Tulsa Opera, and the Metropolitan Arts Council in Greenville, North Carolina. “Julie was a visionary in helping to bring an infusion of innovation into the school districts,” said David Flatley, Executive Director of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College in Chicago, who Richard hired as a consultant in Greenville. “I was enormously impressed by her building of that network, and the manner in which she cultivated new relationships along the way. She demonstrated what it takes to be a strong arts education leader.” A past chairperson for the Arts Education Council of Americans for the Arts, Richard has immersed herself in the local community during her six-and-a-half years in the West Valley. In addition to her role with the West Valley Arts Council, she serves on the board of directors for Westmarc and the Arizona Citizens/Action for the Arts. Richard is also a member of the City of Avondale’s Municipal Arts Committee, and the Surprise Arts and Cultural Advisory Board, and sings in the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church Schola Cantorum and Choir. Richard lives in Goodyear with her husband Ed.
