Dufferin Arts Council hires new executive director

Dufferin Arts Council (DAC) reached a significant milestone last week in hiring Shirley Boxem of Mulmur as their new Executive Director. As a previously all-volunteer organization, DAC recognizes the need to move forward and that capacity building benefits from a committed resource, particularly one who has experience in managing and growing Not-For- Profit organizations.

The selection committee was pleased to recommend Boxem, who in her current volunteer role as the Dufferin Community Foundation Grants Committee Chair, has an extensive background in the granting process.

She is the previous Executive Director of Headwaters Communities in Action, a community backbone organization that hosts Volunteer Dufferin, Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance, and DC Moves. In that role she led the transition of the Dufferin County Community Grants assessment process to a citizen led and non-partisan committee.

Unbeknownst to many, Boxem also worked part time as clay art teaching assistant in the Artist-in- the-school program operating in the Peel Board of Education, with her sister Marion Bartlett, an artist at Studio 124 in Singhampton. “I have seen first-hand the impact of art programs on children and adults” she said. “The arts are fundamental to community well-being as they inspire various communication, expression, and creative thinking. They are a foundational part of thriving communities with bright futures. I am so very excited to be working with DAC”. Boxem will assume overall management of DAC, initially taking over current programs and functions before facilitating a new strategic action plan.

The Board recognizes the huge contribution of Chair and President Warren Maycock. “It’s been rewarding to be at the helm of this organization” said Maycock. “There is hard work ahead and DAC has needs that have pushed us beyond volunteer capacity.”