PORT ANGELES — Robin Anderson of Newberg, Ore., has verbally accepted an offer from the city of Port Angeles to direct the fine arts center, interim City Manager Dan McKeen said.
Anderson was not immediately available for comment.
The City Council on Tuesday gave unanimous consent to McKeen to hire the director in light of a $50,000 anonymous donation to help fund the $52,000-per-year position.
The new director will work with city staff to develop short- and long-term strategic plans for the center.
Anderson verbally accepted the city’s offer Thursday and will travel to Port Angeles early next week to go over the fine details of the offer, McKeen said in an email to the Peninsula Daily News.
“At that time, Robin is expected to sign the employment offer that is in the process of being drafted,” McKeen wrote.
Anderson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Anderson had served as executive director of the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, a Portland, Ore., suburb of about 22,000 residents, for two years.
She abruptly resigned in late November, the Newberg Graphic and Yamhill Valley News-Register reported.
Karen Halliday, a member of the cultural center’s board, told the Graphic that Anderson resigned Nov. 29, effective that day, for “personal reasons.”
Halliday told the News-Register that Anderson left behind an appreciative board and a center well-positioned to continue its mission of arts support and education.
The Graphic said Anderson did not respond to requests for comment.
In Port Angeles, an anonymous donor pledged $50,000 on June 29 to help the fine arts center cover a $52,000 shortfall to hire a new director.
Anderson would replace retiring Executive Director Jake Seniuk.
The center’s budget of $178,000 is supplemented with $38,750 in city funds, with the remaining money derived from a trust fund, an endowment and donations generated
by volunteers and fundraising events.
The Graphic reported that Anderson was a San Francisco Bay Area native who came to Newberg in November 2009 after working as the arts program director for the city of Lakewood, Colo.
She holds a master’s degree in fine arts from the California College of the Arts in Oakland, the newspaper said.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
