Our Board of Directors is delighted to announce the addition of a new Board member, R. Michael Gros.
Michael comes to us with an impressive background that aligns perfectly with our Clark Center’s mission. He is a member of the professional theatre director’s union (SDC) and Professor Emeritus and former Co-Chair of Theatre Arts at Santa Barbara City College. He is a Fulbright finalist. He was a member of the graduate theatre faculty at Kansas State University and The University of Akron. Prior to teaching at Kansas State, Michael served as a management consultant and interim Executive Director at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts. He served as Artistic Director for six seasons with PCPA Theaterfest producing more than 70 productions under Actors’ Equity Association contracts. He has directed more than 35 full productions, many of which were also under an Equity contract. Michael received an Indy Award for his direction of the Theatre Group production of Present Laughter. He is the Former Dean of Fine, Performing, and Language Arts at Ohlone College. He is Artistic Director of PlayFest Santa Barbara. Michael received a residency Fellowship in nonprofit arts leadership at Stanford University.
In addition to his impressive theatrical experience, he has presented numerous seminars on leadership and arts management through the United States Institute for Theatre Technology Leadership Academy. He regularly speaks on arts advocacy and arts education topics to civic, social, and professional organizations. He earned his MFA in directing from the University of California at Irvine. He earned his BA in theatre, Magna Cum Laude, at UCLA. Michael served on the Board of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and is a past directing focus group representative (Chair) for the Association of Theatre in Higher Education where he currently serves on the Finance Committee. He has lived in Arroyo Grande for nearly 20 years and is very glad to be accepting this role in our organization.
Please join us in welcoming him to our team!
As a nonprofit organization, we are led by a volunteer Board of Directors. Our Board is an amazing group of individual passionate community members working together to support and promote the Clark Center. If you are interested, or know of someone who might be a good fit, please call our Executive Director, Connie O’Henley at 805-489-4196 for more information.
