By Diane Tauber Schultz

I’m boarding a plane to Colorado and my BlackBerry rings. It’s Russ Crumley, the new executive director of the Sarasota County Arts Council (SCAC). I drop everything, literally. He’s requesting a meeting with SCENE Magazine’s publisher and editor. Ahhhhh, so this is part of his “meeting with the local media” strategy he discussed during our interview. He’s becoming ubiquitous.

In November, when Crumley was formally introduced during the SCAC’s 2008 Arts Leadership Awards at the Venice Theatre, we chatted. Then, he’s sitting center balcony Opening Night of Barnum at the Asolo, and mingles with 300 movers and shakers. He gives a speech at the Sarasota Film & Entertainment Office holiday mixer. Next, he’s bustling out of the garden during an unexpected rain at the Christmas party of Tamara and Jim Ley, Sarasota county administrator. The day before, he was on-air live with Cliff Roles’ 1220 Talk of the Suncoast show. Later, he’s on Canvas Café’s deck having lunch with Chris Pfahler, President, Pfahler Properties Inc., a new SCAC board member, who was furiously taking notes. While crossing Ringling and Links later that evening, I hear a faint hello from a stop sign, and Russ is in the passenger seat of Matt Orr’s car, the owner of ThisWeekinSarasota.com. Last night he met with a group of young local artists on Ceviche’s roof-top, listening to their concerns, needs, and rationale for previously not joining the SCAC. And these are only my Russ Crumley sightings.

He’s only been in town on the job since October 1, 2008. How does he move so fast? I half expect to see him on the ski slopes with a Sarasota arts heavy-weight like Michael Edwards or Iain Webb, or the head of the National Endowment of the Arts seeking support for Sarasota. His name is virtually sliding off the lips of eeeeveryone in town, the way MySpace did when it was launched. If you haven’t met Crumley yet, or don’t already have a meeting scheduled, or your caller ID doesn’t indicate Russ, trust me, you will. In his first seven weeks on the job he met with 65 arts organizations and SCAC members, and two thirds of everyone in arts in the city. He’s quick to point out, though, that nearly 26 arts organizations exist that haven’t joined SCAC yet. Not for long! In arts and culture, he really is the man of the season.

“He’s very committed and enthusiastic, and he’s personable and genuine. It’s so refreshing,” Michael Donald Edwards, producing artistic director, Asolo Repertory Theatre says. “I’m hoping he’s come at exactly the right time, and makes a huge impact in the arts that are so critical to Sarasota’s identity. Although, it’s not something one person can do,” he adds, “He’s creating an environment where it can really happen. He’s listening, and doing his best to bring people together.”

Crumley is a man on a mission. In his fi rst week on the job, he commissioned Mark Chew to design an SCAC 2008 arts leadership award sculpture. Shouldn’t the actual art’s award itself be creative? You’d think so, but no one else thought of it. On his seventh day (not a day of rest), he read about the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s new partnership with New York’s Baryshnikov Arts Center to launch the Ringling International Arts Festival—a new biennial performing and visual arts festival that will be on the Sarasota FSU cultural campus in October. He contacted the organizers, and discussed ways the SCAC could help support the event. “As we get closer to the date, more residents will be thrilled to see the scope and breathe of this festival. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Sarasota and all organizations to participate and support it,” Crumley says.

Two weeks on the job and Crumley decided that SCAC needed a concise expression of its mission and vision. Nobody could remember the mission statement or explain it in 60 words. So, he created a handy dandy little acronym, so SCAC and its members won’t forget the new mission action plan. It’s Collaborate, Advocate, Communicate—CAC—as in SCAC, get it? Makes you wonder why they need a mnemonic device. Yet, we all need them in this acronym-crazed, no-time-to-breathe world. LOL.

He’s a man who gets the job done, fast. Yet, he’ll be the fi rst to tell you he won’t be going it alone. He’s a fan of collaboration. Crumley gave every board member a list of SCAC members and organizations he’d like them to contact, and ask questions, such as, ‘What can we do better?’ and, ‘What would you like to see improved?’ Board members are moving through their lists compiling information, while Crumley moves at wizard speed on a, ummm, Harry Potter broom stick. His list is longer, and time is short. “We’ve got to make sure we keep the lights on, so we can swing out of this economic malaise and sustain and build upon what we have that is good, while creating new opportunities,” Crumley says.

The “A” in “CAC” is for Advocacy. That means that SCAC members (and its board) become even more visible, generating awareness, reaching out to the community, getting their new mission and vision out, so the art community can participate and lend its voices, ideas, and time. “We all have to do a better job, open our ears, be sounding boards, invite feedback, and act on it,” he explains. “We (the SCAC) are no different than any other service agency.”

“He has a vision,” Nancy Roucher, advocacy/education chairperson, SCAC, who’s been with the arts council since its inception. “He comes in from out of town with a fresh viewpoint. He’s open, warm, and gets everybody working together in a fi rm but very positive way. I’m hopeful and optimistic,” she adds. Roucher also calls him Big Russ. And, by the by, he seems humble, too, and tall, really tall, 6’ 5” handsome tall with green puppy-dog eyes, but back to the SCAC and its new mission and vision.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes on the third floor of its Tamiami Trail North offices. The SCAC helps fund historical preservation, cultural arts programs, arts education advocacy, awards TDC grants, and has targeted the Top 100 in the arts community who will be on the advising and advocacy board under the Arts Leadership Circle. The SCAC is also working on reinventing Arts Day 2010, and providing opportunities to all arts organizations to come onboard at this critical planning time and help recreate it, showcase their wares and businesses, and improve upon what previously existed. One of Crumley’s colleagues appropriately pasted a “Yes We Can” sticker above his offi ce door. This isn’t about politics. “It’s really a rallying cry to the community to understand the importance of the arts and culture, and what we can accomplish,” Crumley says.

“After months of inactivity, walking into the Arts Council and being greeted by smiling Russ was a breath of fresh air. He exudes the kind of energy that will revitalize the contributions of the Arts Council to the organizations it serves and the community at large,” Betty Morris, SCAC Volunteer & Events Coordinator says. “He listens, gets the facts, analyzes, then decides and knows how to promote and get others to share his enthusiasm. Stay tuned. The best lies ahead,” Morris says.

The final “C” in CAC stands for Communication. The SCAC’s new website falls under this domain. It will be up and running in January, introduced in phases through March. Crumley reassigned the completion of this project to atLarge, Inc., and is establishing online partnerships with groups like ThisWeekInSarasota.com, Anytime Arts, and other local magazines and newspapers to help extend SCAC’s message and outreach. And it is forming a communications task force of seven to eight PR and advertising agencies to spread the gospel according to Russ. And then there’s Russ, everywhere.

“Perhaps I’m a man for the season, but I’m only one person,” he says. “I think we as a community have only just begun to realize our full potential to promote our arts and creative services, to develop new growth opportunities, and to attract tourists and consumers worldwide,” he adds. “If the last seven weeks are any indicator of what we can accomplish together, give us seven months.” It won’t take that long.