When Karen Mittelman took over the leadership of the Vermont Arts Council in 2017, she said she was surprised by the depth of work being done.
“It immediately dawned on me that I was entering an already amazing artistic community and that it was my job to help nurture it,” Mittelman said.
Cherish what you have: Mittelman has been able to create partnerships with many arts and cultural organizations across the country, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic that has brutalized the arts community.
“We’ve been in triage mode for the last two and a half years,” Mittelman said.
But soon, nurturing those relationships will be someone else’s job. The Vermont Arts Council announced Tuesday that Mittelman plans to leave the job in October, when Deputy Director Amy Cunningham will take over as interim director. Mittelman plans to focus on his writing.
Mittelman sought to help Vermont leaders understand how the state’s arts economy is a driver of the economy as a whole and how investments in arts and cultural programs help support jobs and communities.
Jody Fried, CEO of St. Louis-based Catamount Arts. Johnsbury, said he saw Mittelman’s tireless efforts to foster Vermont’s arts community and set it up for success.
“In a relatively short period of time, Karen has had a tremendous impact on Vermont, leading not only to dollar investment coming out of the legislative session, but also to a new awareness and acceptance of the creative sector,” Fried said.
The council helped arts organizations survive the economic effects of the pandemic by partnering with Vermont Humanities to put to good use the federal funding they received from the CARES Act in the early days of the pandemic. The two organizations distributed the money to arts and humanities programs in Vermont, then did it again with funding in 2021 from the America’s Rescue Plan Act.
Without this support, many businesses in Vermont’s creative sector may have failed.
Mittelman and the arts council have taken time during the pandemic to strategically plan for the future, Fried said. Instead of financial pressures destroying the creative sector, the world has begun to look for ways to strengthen the sector and set it up for future success.
Recently, Mittelman played a key role in securing an additional $9 million in federal aid for arts and cultural organizations in Vermont. In her final few months as executive director, Mittelman aims to leave the arts community in the best possible shape.
“We’re facing a sort of financial precipice post-Covid,” Mittelman said.
Mittelman said donors are currently hesitant to give given the current economic crisis or have less to give because they increased their donations during the pandemic crisis.
In addition, many people remain hesitant to return to crowded venues such as museums and theaters, reducing the ticket revenue these organizations have relied on in the past.
“We need to figure out how we can work with other funders, as well as state and private donors, to make sure we get the field through the next few tough years,” Mittelman said.
The Vermont Arts Council has a lot of work to do, but Mittelman said she’s confident the arts community will be in good hands long after she leaves the organization.
