Susie Farr
Executive Director
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
Susie Farr is the executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center located on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. Ms. Farr became executive director in 1999, two years prior to the Center’s official opening to the public in September of 2001. She has been responsible for establishing the strategic direction of the Clarice Smith Center and the stewardship of the Center as a place for learning, exploration, and growth in the performing arts. During her tenure, Farr has been strongly committed to creating ongoing and meaningful collaboration with the performing arts and academic units housed within the Center (School of Music, Department of Theatre, Department of Dance, Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library) to ensure integration of the Center’s programming with the educational mission of the campus. Ms. Farr is also responsible for the stewardship of a unique relationship with Prince George’s County that provides resident unit status to the county. To realize the promise of this relationship, Farr works closely with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to provide access to Center facilities for local artists, house county performing arts camps for young people, and support special programs. Under her leadership the Center has established itself as a national innovator among university performing arts centers.
A recognized and respected administrator and arts advocate, Farr has significant experience in all areas of performing arts management, both in the national nonprofit arena and in the university environment. She came to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters where she served as executive director for thirteen years. During her tenure at Arts Presenters, she administered the National Task Force on Presenting and Touring the Performing Arts, an 18-month project that brought together arts professionals from around the country. The Task Force published “An American Dialogue,” which is widely used today as a touchstone for performing arts professionals. Prior to her tenure at Arts Presenters, she served for six years as director of Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley. She also held arts management positions at Stanford University.
Farr has extensive experience in the development of new initiatives in support of audience development, diversity, and arts advocacy. She has served as a panelist on numerous state and federal review panels for state arts agencies and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has also served on the boards of Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS, The National Jazz Service Organization, and Miriam’s Kitchen, a breakfast program for the homeless. She currently serves on the board of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington. In 2000 and again in 2006, she was named by Washingtonian Magazine as “One of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.” She was selected as the 2002 recipient of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ Fan Taylor Award.