BCAC Taps Former County Parks Director as Interim Leader

The Broome County Arts Council’s board of directors has selected former Broome County Director of Parks, Recreation and Youth Services Arthur (Art) Garrison as the BCAC’s interim executive director. Garrison, who will begin Monday (July 24), follows Laura Knochen-Davis, who announced in April that she was stepping down.
Board President Susan Appe said Garrison’s more than 20 years of experience in the non-profit public and private sectors have given him a strong skill set that directly serves BCAC’s mission.
“The board of directors could not be happier with welcoming Art as interim executive director.” Appe said, “The timing is excellent as the board and staff have just completed a strategic planning process with the support from the New York Council of Nonprofits and with a small capacity grant from The Community Foundation for South Central New York.
“With the entire board’s support, Art will serve our mission to promote and support a thriving arts community in Broome County and strive for our vision to lead in inspiring artistic excellence and fostering creative exchanges through community connections and collaborations.”
A graduate of Villanova University with a degree in economics, Garrison spent most of his early working years in the nonprofit field. Working for the Boy Scouts of America and Catholic schools as an executive and development professional took him across the country for more than two decades. Upon returning to the East Coast, he and his wife, Ginny, owned and operated Family Hobby and Crafts on the Vestal Parkway for more than a dozen years.
In addition to being a local small business owner, Garrison has been active in local public service, taking the post in 2012 of executive director of the Broome County Youth Bureau. Within a year, he was promoted to a position that added the county’s large and diverse parks system to his responsibilities. He served Broome County as a department head for five years.
Garrison has served on dozens of boards, committees, councils, and agencies serving the people of Broome County. He and Ginny have two grown children and a rescued black lab and live in the Town of Union.
He joins BCAC as the council prepares to launch the 2018 United Cultural Fund campaign and hold a major fall fundraiser while continuing its current important programming for members and the local arts community at large.
Appe, who is an assistant professor in Binghamton University’s College of Community and Public Affairs, praised Knochen-Davis for her strong leadership since assuming the executive director’s post in January 2016.