ORLANDO | Last month, Central Florida Community Arts’ board of directors announced Terrance Hunter as the arts organization’s new CEO. Hunter, who has worked in the cultural sector — including at the Orange County Regional History Center, Jacksonville’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida — since 2008, started with CFCArts in 2019.
Hunter’s announcement came a year after former CEO Joshua Vickery said he was stepping down and a year after Hunter being named vice president of operations and education.
“I did not expect it at all,” Hunter says. “I’ve always been interested in being a CEO or leader of a cultural organization in this community, but I had not envisioned it being at CFCArts necessarily. When the board shared with me that that was the direction we were heading in, I was honored and surprised. I’m really still in disbelief. The message that it is sending to the community is really an incredible one.”
He says that he didn’t envision being CEO at CFCArts because he hadn’t expected Vickery, who also founded the organization, to be going anywhere.
“Following the founder is always tricky but he and I had such an incredible relationship and the chance to learn from him, to really understand why he founded this organization and what it means for him to serve this community in that way, and for me to put my spin on that, is a great honor,” Hunter says.
Hunter, who is a Black, queer man, recognizes the significance of taking on this role and the visibility it gives to the communities he is a part of.
I realize none of us can walk into a room and leave any part of who we are out. Maybe at times, like walking in the Pride parade, being gay needed to be first, or during Black History Month, me being Black needs to be first, but there are times when I need to balance all of those views while taking into account other peoples as well,” he says. “This moment, what it means to be a leader in this moment, it is about making sure that regardless of where we are, that people see some version of their identity represented in the work that we’re doing because none of us are ever just one thing.”
CFCArts isn’t just making changes to its top position but also in its branding, introducing a new logo that represents a different focus for the organization. The logo — five “whimsical” characters representing a member of each major program and in CFCArts colors — was released Oct. 14 during its annual breakfast event for members, donors and community leaders.
“The previous logo really focused on where the work took place, this new logo focuses on who we serve,” Hunter says. “There were seven buildings for seven counties that we are operating in. This new logo really focuses on the people we are serving through the programs we provide. Refocusing on our members and how we serve them and what they get as a result of their participation and experience with us really is a key focus as we move forward.”
The organization also used the event to announce its new member ambassador program. The 13 chosen ambassadors, all active members of CFCArts, will serve as representatives at live events, occasionally “takeover” the group’s social media and be provided interview opportunities to talk about CFCArts’ programs.
“In line with our people-first mission, we have this member ambassador program, and the goal of the program is to allow more of our members to represent the organization publicly,” Hunter says. “We are experts in all that we do but we are experts because of the people we serve, so really allowing those people an opportunity to speak about their experience and the power that they have experienced as a result of participating in the arts is something we want to highlight more and bring to the front more.
Each ambassador will serve a one-year term. Hunter also says that the new program is a way to showcase how broad and diverse the organization is.
“We have programs for everyone, and while our ambassador program doesn’t capture the full breath of all of our programs, it really is a great sampling of the people we serve,” he adds. “I like to say that every stage in this community is for every member of this community, so we want to make sure that people can see themselves in the people who serve and having our member ambassador program is a great way to start that.”
After a two-and-a-half-year period of difficulties for arts in general, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hunter says CFCArts really didn’t miss a beat and is now in a very good place.
“We have seen our membership rebound, and grow tremendously,” he says. “Our orchestra is as large as it has ever been. Our chorus is nearly back to pre-pandemic numbers, we’re really experiencing more people really want to be engaged in making more music and connecting with one another.”
In fact, Hunter shares he recently learned that CFCArts has the largest community choir and the largest symphony orchestra in the country, something you can see for yourself in Classic(al) Rock, a CFCARTs concert at the Dr. Phillips Center’s Steinmetz Hall Nov. 19, that will have 224 performers on stage.
“I’m really excited about this one,” Hunter says. “Our previous record was 183 performers so this should be something spectacular.”
CFArts’ holiday calendar is also filled for the year, with several shows scheduled including “Winter Wonderland,” a concert presented by CFCArts Community Choir, Members of the CFCArts Symphony Orchestra and CFCArts Dance Company, Dec. 15-16 and a production of “Elf the Musical,” which is being put on by the CFCArts Youth Theatre Program Dec. 16-17.
That doesn’t mean CFCArts is taking it easy come 2023. Hunter says he already has his vision in mind for the organization next year.
“We want to ensure that CFCArts is a place that is centered on collaboration, community, connectivity and creation,” he says. “That means, we’ve never shied away from community partnerships, but we’re leaning into it more. It means we are listening to the needs of the community more, following that need and doing our best to meet that need in ways that are authentic to us. We know that we are one of three community arts organizations in the country that employ music therapists fulltime, so knowing we have a waitlist, we need to do our best to find more and feed that work more because there is a need and I want to make sure we are feeding that need.
“It also means that we are looking for a home that we can do all of those things in a single place,” he continued. “One of the beautiful things about CFCArts is we are community based and that will never change but there are certain challenges present in being a nomadic organization so I am working on solving that for us.”
Keep up-to-date on all of CFCArts programs, events and upcoming plans go going to CFCArts.com and by following them on social media.
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