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South Dakota Arts Council
711 E. Wells Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501
(605) 773-3301
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 2009
CONTACT: Michael Pangburn, 773-5507 or sdac@state.sd.us.
Holub retires from SDAC executive director post
Pierre - Dennis Holub, executive director of the South Dakota Arts Council since 1988, has retired from that position effective January 23. Holub will continue to assist the Arts Council through the agency's spring 2009 grant-making season.
“Dennis Holub has personally taken a hand in growing the arts in South Dakota and ensuring that they continue to prosper all across our state,” said Gov. Mike Rounds. “His dedication to our educational, cultural and artistic programs is exceeded only by his devoted service to South Dakota. I congratulate Dennis on a job well done in his career with the South Dakota Arts Council.”
Among Holub’s key accomplishments are: supervising the relocation of the Arts Council office to Pierre, guiding the integration of the state arts agency into the newly reorganized Department of Tourism and State Development, securing the passage of the first appropriation to the Art For State Buildings Program and being recognized by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies as an individual who has made outstanding leadership contributions to the state arts council movement in the US.
His peers in the industry will miss Holub. “Over the years, I’ve worked with Dennis in various capacities,” said Ruth Brennan, former Arts Council chair and current state Dance on Tour coordinator. “I soon realized that his thoughtful, clear leadership not only strengthened the arts in our state but enabled them to flourish. Regional and national recognition have brought attention to what we in South Dakota have known all along, and perhaps have even taken for granted, that our state is better for his guidance.”
Holub’s 38-year tenure with the state arts agency makes him the longest-serving staff member of the organization and the person who has helped to guide the greatest number of changes in South Dakota’s arts scene.
“Dennis represents the history of SDAC,” said Jane Rasmussen, current chair of the organization. “Actor, artist-in-schools coordinator, staff member and executive director, Dennis has played every role on the stage of the arts in South Dakota. More than four decades later, he is the institutional memory of the South Dakota Arts Council.”
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