Performing Arts Venue Administrator Named Executive Director of The Clarice

After a national search, longtime arts leader Terrence “Terry” Dwyer has been named the next executive director of The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

In this role, starting on July 18, Dwyer will ensure The Clarice continues to thrive as a laboratory for education, scholarship, community engagement and innovation in the arts as well as a national leader among performing arts presenters. He will also play a key role in the campuswide Arts for All initiative, which leverages the power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time and aims to ensure equitable access to the arts.

”Terry’s significant experience as a leader in arts management, fierce dedication to collaborative leadership and commitment to community engagement and relationship-building promises an exciting future for The Clarice,” said Bonnie Thornton Dill, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

Dwyer brings more than 30 years of executive leadership, financial planning, high-level fundraising and programming at major arts presenting organizations across the United States. From 2006-19, he was president of the internationally acclaimed Segerstrom Center for the Arts; he also worked at La Jolla Playhouse, the Alley Theatre, Circle Repertory Company, Laura Dean Dancers & Musicians, the McCallum Theatre and the Kravis Center. Most recently, he was the consulting CEO at the Performing Arts Center-Eastside in Bellevue, Wash.

“The Clarice’s legacy of artistic excellence, community connections and commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, along with its dedication to collaboration and the development of new work, positions it well to realize opportunities for continued cultural leadership and developing of its role as a catalyst for social change,” Dwyer said.

Thornton Dill extended her gratitude to Erica Bondarev Rapach, who has served as acting executive director of The Clarice for over two years and will return to her role as associate executive director.