The Clark Center’s Board of Directors is thrilled to announce Dave Pier as the new Executive Director for the Clark Center for the Performing Arts!
Dave Pier’s extensive work with community arts organizations began in the mid-1980s at which time he served as President of the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley. In Thousand Oaks he was active in committee work which specified and resulted in construction and programming of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza with its 1800 and 400 seat theatres. In the 1990s he served on the Ventura County Arts Commission and managed the Ventura County Organizational Development Grant Program. He was also President of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation.
After earning an MBA in Arts Management from UCLA in 1995, for 25 years Pier has managed regional performing arts centers in California, overseeing the successful openings and operations of the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College near Sacramento, the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto and a new Performing Arts Center on the campus of California State University, Northridge. As part of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, he managed the historic John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood and acclaimed programs including the award-winning family performing arts series Big!World!Fun! and expanded programming under the theatre’s Latino Arts and Community Bridges Initiatives.
Dave is a musician with a background in technical theatre who, before entering the arts management field, worked as a research scientist in the private sector. At ARCO Solar Industries, he led teams of scientists, engineers and technicians in the world’s then leading research group for the development of solar electric energy. His education also includes degrees from Carleton College (B.A., Physics), Columbia University (B.S., Electrical Engineering/Acoustics) and Stanford University (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering), as well as training in music composing and arranging from the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles.
“The selection committee for the Board of Directors carefully considered all candidates” states Clark Center Board President Ashlea Boyer. “We were pleased to have several qualified candidates to choose from. In the end Dave’s experience and his leadership of similar theaters with similar goals was a winning combination. We are excited for this new phase for the Clark Center! Dave has already begun integrating with the staff and meeting the community and supporters of the Clark Center. We believe he will bring fresh ideas while also collaborating with our supporters, staff and board. We welcome him to our family!”
Outgoing Executive Director, Connie O’Henley, says “I am extremely excited about the choice the Board of Directors made in selecting Dave for this position. I feel confident moving forward with my new chapter in life knowing that he will be a strong leader to an amazing staff that is remaining in place to support him and the Clark Center, an organization I have been passionate about leading for 15 years. I can’t wait to see the exciting changes that will begin to take place as this new era for the Clark Center begins.”
Dave is married to Patricia Segoviano de Pier who has extensive experience working to improve communities. They have two daughters and a grandson living in Southern California. His parents are thirty-year residents of nearby Los Osos. Please join our Clark Center in welcoming Dave to his new position and his wife and family to our Central Coast community.
