Auburn University's Performing Arts Center will have a new executive director starting July 1.
After a national search for "creative and strategic leadership" of the new performing arts center, Christopher Heacox was selected.
The board approved budget for the project is $65 million. The 85,000 square foot center will begin construction later this year. Groundbreaking for the center was in March 2017 and is set to open in 2019. The center will host about 1,200 guests and include a box office, catering kitchen, wardrobe and dressing rooms. It will also consist of office and conference space.
Heacox will be managing the ongoing project and will serve in an administrative position. He will be working as a bridge between the center and community.
“As the vision for Auburn’s Performing Arts Center becomes a reality, it is vital that our efforts are focused on welcoming world-class performances, presentations, artists and scholars to our community in an effort to cultivate a deeper understanding and appreciation of the arts,” said Provost Timothy Boosinger. “With his experience building interdisciplinary performing arts programs and coordinating diverse series, I am confident Christopher Heacox will lead Auburn’s Performing Arts Center to become an internationally recognized program.”
Heacox previously served as executive director of Florida State University's Opening Nights Performing Arts Series. Prior to his time with Florida State, Heacox worked as executive director of Friday Musicale and the Riverside Fine Arts Association in Jacksonville, Florida and managing director of the Porter Center of Performing Arts at Brevard College in North Carolina.
“The Auburn University Performing Arts Center will be a tremendous cultural asset for the university and surrounding areas,” Heacox said. “I am honored to join the Auburn Family and I look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff and administrators, as well as the greater Auburn community to present world-class performing arts experiences for all."
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