Washington, DC, May 10, 2017
– The Juilliard School in New York, N.Y., announced today that it has selected Damian Woetzel, director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program, as its seventh president. He will begin his term in July 2018. Woetzel has served at Aspen since June 2011.
“We offer our deep respect and appreciation for Damian’s work to champion Citizen Artists using arts and culture to reinforce values of justice, fairness and inclusivity,” said Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson. “First as a Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence and then as the leader of our envied, multifaceted and growing arts initiative, Damian has been an inspiration to all he encountered through the considerable work of his program –– exchanging ideas and developing fora that strengthened the reciprocal relationship between the arts and society. Juilliard is incredibly fortunate to have selected him as its new leader.”
The search for a successor will begin in the coming months.
The Aspen Institute Arts Program was established to support and invigorate the arts in America and return them to the center of the Institute’s “Great Conversation.” It brings together artists, advocates, educators, foundation representatives, and government officials to exchange ideas and develop policies and programs that strengthen the reciprocal relationship between the arts and society. Activities include the Creative Youth Alliance; ArtStrikes; the Aspen Seminar for Young Poets; Civic Practice Scholars; and Race, Arts, and America. The Arts Program also offers curated conversations, events, and performances in New York City and elsewhere around the country, as well as arts-focused discussions for the Washington Ideas Roundtable Series and film screenings for the New Views Documentaries and Dialogues Series.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has an office in New York City and an international network of partners.
