Missoula Cultural Council hires director- Tom Bensen

The Missoula Cultural Council http://www.missoulacultural.org
has hired a new executive director to lead the organization.

Tom Bensen, who began June 1 as executive director, replaces longtime director Mark Martin. A celebration of Martin’s tenure with the organization is being planned.

By the Missoulian news staff

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/06/10/entertainer/ent04.txt

Bensen is well known to many around the state as the executive director of First Night Missoula, a position he held for six years. He brings to the position a passion for arts and culture and a track record of creating vibrant, culturally diverse, beloved community-wide celebrations, according to the council.

"I am excited to be part of this organization, and I look forward to all the challenges. The Missoula Cultural Council has benefited from the strong leadership of Mark Martin, and I intend to carry on his work and his vision of the MCC as the ‘cultural arm’ of Missoula."

With his background, Bensen is in a unique position to lead the MCC in its three main initiatives, the MCC said.

Those initiatives include:

* Coordinating cultural exchanges and developing relationships between Missoula’ and our sister cities: Palmerston North, New Zealand and Neckargemund, Germany.

* Promoting the direct economic benefits of arts and culture, through the Business Committee for the Arts and other activities to promote economic development in Missoula such as cultural tourism.

* Networking with other arts and culture organizations as coordinator of the Arts and Humanities Coalition and through the MCC Web site: http://www.missoulacultural.org

The Missoula Cultural Council promotes arts and culture and has been the official cultural agency for Missoula County and the City of Missoula since 1991. MCC is also an affiliate of the Business Committee for the Arts, a national nonprofit organization that brings business and the arts together to develop and advance partnerships that benefit business, the arts and the community.