Jacqueline Z. Davis Appointed New Executive Director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

New York, June 22, 2000 -- New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc and William D. Walker, Andrew W. Mellon Director of The New York Public Library's Research Libraries, announced today that Jacqueline Z. Davis has been appointed The Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, effective September 11, 2000.  Established in 1965 at Lincoln Center, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is the world's most extensive combination of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field, and serves more than 350,000 visitors a year.

"After an exhaustive national search, I am delighted that Bill Walker is bringing Jacqueline Davis to head one of The New York Public Library's greatest collections," said President LeClerc.  "She has had a brilliant career to date in performing arts administration, and she will be a superb addition to the Library's leadership."

Ms. Davis is currently Executive Director of the Lied Center at the University of Kansas in Lawrence , Kansas, one of the leading university arts presenters in the nation, with a schedule of 280 events a year. Before becoming the Lied Center's first director in 1993, Ms. Davis served as Director of the University's Concert Series from 1980.  In that capacity,

she is credited with founding several performing series, including the New Directions, Broadway & Beyond, Lied Family, and World Series. She has served in many national leadership roles in the performing arts field: she was President of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (1990-92) and has served on the boards of Chamber Music America, Dance USA, and the American Arts Alliance. She has been a frequent panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and for Arts International. In 1994, Ms. Davis received the Governor's Arts Award for "outstanding contribution to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in Kansas."  She was named one of 11 Outstanding Presenters in the United States through a study commissioned by Pew Charitable Trusts in 1996 and was named one of the 10 Most Influential University Presenters in the United States by International Arts Manager in 1999.  In 2000, she was named to the University of Kansas Women's Hall of Fame and was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Lawrence School District.

William D. Walker, to whom Ms. Davis will report, commented, "Jacqueline Davis's broad experience in all the performing arts and her expertise in building a major arts facility were key factors in her selection to lead the Library for the Performing Arts as it begins the second millennium. After the completion of the current renovation in spring 2001, she will oversee the reopening of the Library for the Performing Arts in the recently named Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center on the Lincoln Center campus."

As Director, Ms. Davis will be responsible for all aspects of the operations of the Library for the Performing Arts, including overseeing public service, collection development, public programming and exhibitions, budgeting, and long-range planning.  As principal spokesperson for the Library, she will represent the collections and programs to donors, Library Trustees, the news media, collectors, artists, and users.  Ms. Davis will have an instrumental role in the completion of the renovation of the Library's building at Lincoln Center and the return of the Library from its current temporary locations to its permanent home in spring 2001.

"I am looking forward to working with the incredible staff and devoted trustees to enhance an already extraordinary performing arts library program and to give it the prominence that it so richly deserves," remarked Ms. Davis.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts comprises the Circulating Collections, and the four research collections -- the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the Music Division, the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. All the collections, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances, are available free of charge. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the performing arts -- whether professional or amateur -- the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of non-book materials such as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters, and photographs.

During the Lincoln Center facility's current renovation, the Library has relocated to temporary sites:  the Circulating Collections are available on the fourth floor of the Mid-Manhattan Library at Fifth Avenue and 40th Street; the Research Collections are accessible at the Library Annex at 521 West 43rd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.  For more information about Library services and hours, telephone 212-870-1630.

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