Ervin Duggan, president of The Society of the Four Arts since 2000, announced Friday he will retire after the current season.
Duggan will remain with the Four Arts through June, after which he and his wife, Julia, will retire to North Carolina.
Former president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting System, Duggan is credited with recognizing the potential for the Society to evolve into a community-serving organization, describing his vision for the Palm Beach organization to become “a small liberal arts college with the entire community as its student body.”
Duggan’s extensive background in Washington, D.C., began with work as a reporter for The Washington Post in the early 1960s, and was national editor of The Washingtonian magazine in the 1980s.
He worked on Capitol Hill as a special assistant to Sens. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas and Adlai Stevenson III of Illinois, and also to Joseph Califano when he was Health, Education and Welfare secretary in the Carter administration. In addition, he was a member of the policy planning staff at the State Department under Secretaries Cyrus Vance and Edmund Muskie, also in the Carter administration.
Before relocating to Florida, Duggan was director of special projects, history and art at the Smithsonian Institution.
At the Four Arts, Duggan created his flagship program, Campus on the Lake, in February 2001 with an informal discussion series and lecturers from a nearby art and antiques show. During the 2012-13 season, more than 6,600 people attended Campus on the Lake’s 80 scheduled programs. This year more than 100 programs are scheduled.
Duggan also led two major capital campaigns to expand and improve the campus. In 2004, renovations began on the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden, and in 2007 Duggan’s vision of an outdoor museum, welcoming urban park, and gathering space for special events was realized.
Additionally, Duggan oversaw the acquisition and renovation of the Fitz Eugene Dixon Education Building, purchased from the Palm Beach County School District in 2011.
He raised more than $20 million to transform the building from a dilapidated public school building into a state-of-the- art facility for lifelong learning. The building, which features a demonstration kitchen, art classroom, 200-seat auditorium and a visiting artist-in-residence apartment, opened in March 2013.
The Four Arts Board of Trustees has appointed a search committee to work with a recruiting firm to identify candidates to succeed Duggan.
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FAU prof wins Knight grant for multimedia opera
Joey Bargsten, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University’s School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, has won $2,500 from the 2013 Miami Knight Arts Challenge for his multimedia opera, Melancholalaland.
The opera, which will be produced in Miami some time during the 2014-15 academic year, combines live performance, interactive video and animation in “a futuristic spectacle.”
Bargsten teaches interactive multimedia courses on FAU’s Davie campus, and in the university’s MFA program in media, technology and entertainment. His media experimental ensemble, meme, has presented performances throughout South Florida since 2009.
“The Knight Arts Challenge has helped blossom a culture of creativity across South Florida, inspiring and challenging those of us who live here,” said Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen.
Established in 2008, The Knight Arts Challenge, is a community-wide contest for ideas from local artists and to date has provided almost $22.1 million in funding to the South Florida arts community.
One of 49 winners this year chosen out of 1,400 applications, Bargsten received his award at a ceremony at the New World Center in Miami Beach in November.