Bolz Center Appoints New Leadership

Founder/Director retires after
more than three decades of service.

After more than three decades as founder and director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, Professor E. Arthur Prieve (photo right) has retired from his position as of September 2000. Prieve joined the faculty at the UW-Madison School of Business in 1965, and quickly began work on a new idea in higher education: a cross-disciplinary graduate business degree in Arts Administration. Since then, more than 230 alumni of the program have entered all levels of arts, cultural, and nonprofit management positions around the country, and the Bolz Center has become a vital resource for research, teaching, leadership, and an informed exploration of the field.

Taking on the role of Director of the Bolz Center is Andrew Taylor (photo left), an alumnus of the program who has served as Assistant Director for the past six years. A published author on arts administration issues and a frequent speaker at national arts conferences, Andrew has also served as an advisor to major arts organizations such as the International Society for the Performing Arts, the League of Historic American Theatres, and American Ballet Theatre. He has also advised Madison's upcoming $100-million arts district by helping to develop the future facility's operating plan. As director, Andrew will supervise all daily operations of the Bolz Center, including teaching, research, operations, recruitment, and advising.

To provide additional oversight and support, Professor Kerry D. Vandell (photo right) has been named Executive Director of the Bolz Center, a partial appointment that will champion the Center within the School and University, and support its academic and research programs. Vandell is the Tiefenthaler Chair in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at UW-Madison, Director of the Center for Urban Land Economics Research (CULER), and former Chairman of the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. Vandell has also shown a long-standing interest in arts and cultural management. He has developed impact studies for the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and for Madison's $100-million Overture Project, as well as a published study on the effects of the charitable contribution tax deduction on giving to the arts. He is currently coordinating a study on artist studio/loft space opportunities in the Madison area.

"There is so much good work and so many outstanding students to be proud of over my tenure at this Center," said Prieve. "It gives me great comfort and great hope to be passing its care along to two such qualified and dedicated leaders as Andrew and Kerry."

"The School of Business is truly fortunate to have had Al Prieve, one of the pioneers of arts administration programs, as founder and director of the Bolz Center for these past decades," said School of Business Dean Andrew Policano. "Because of Al's vision and energy, the Bolz Center has grown to be one of the most solid and respected arts administration programs in the nation. We look forward to Andrew and Kerry's leadership. This is a pivotal moment for the arts in Wisconsin. The School of Business, through the Bolz Center and its staff, is poised to be an integral part of all that is to come."