Bolz Center students, local alumni, and special guests had a chance in March to talk with National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia. The interactive videoconference provided over an hour of conversation, questions, and exploration of the role and value of the arts in America, and the complex challenges of the federal agency assigned to advancing that role.

Chairman Gioia was nominated to the leadership post at the NEA in November 2002, and reappointed in 2006 for a second term. A published and award-winning poet and critic, he has spent much of his term diffusing concerns and controversy surrounding the agency from past culture wars, and infusing their programming with national initiatives on reading, theater, writing, and arts education.

The event and opportunity was developed and advanced by Bolz Center alumna Victoria Hutter, a Public Affairs Specialist with the NEA, soon to be its Acting Director of Communications. Victoria joined the Chairman in the DC-based videoconferencing site and collaborated with Bolz Center Director Andrew Taylor on its topic and logistics.

''It was thrilling to connect as a class with Chairman Gioia,'' said Bolz Center student Jara Kern. ''He spoke about the state of the arts in our country with an optimism that belies much of what we hear in the media.''

The Bolz Center's visiting speaker series has long been a mainstay of the program's approach. Innovative and insightful practitioners from across the country routinely visit Madison to talk with students, connect business theory to practical strategy, and highlight the trends and dynamics shaping the arts industries.

This was a first experiment in distance discussion through videoconferencing. The quality of the conversation and the reaction of the students suggest it was a success.

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