CB Center for the Arts hires new executive director

Matt Neufeld sees great potential

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

The Crested Butte Center for the Arts has hired a new executive director. Matt Neufeld starts February 7 and will be coming from Georgetown. He has been the president and CEO of Breckenridge Creative Arts but has been focused on his consulting company for the last eight months, Neufeld Management Group, that offers strategic and operational leadership to arts organizations.

Neufeld hails from St. Louis, Missouri but has studied and worked on the East Coast in New York and Connecticut. His artistic background is primarily in theater.

“We are thrilled that Matt has accepted the CFTA executive director position,” said Center for the Arts board president Leigh Mundy. “The board was so impressed with his experience, poise and professionalism. He and his wife Fran will make a great addition to our community.”

The Center’s artistic director Brooke MacMillan agreed. “We are delighted to have Matt as our new executive director,” she said. “He brings a breadth and depth of knowledge and an understanding of the intersection of community and the arts to this important role. We are impressed with Matt’s ability to merge his talents across a myriad of artistic disciplines and projects and we’re grateful he has decided to focus his energy with us. In this era of immense change, we are confident he can build on our strengths to fully imagine how we champion culture and art. We are thrilled to have his leadership during this next and pivotal phase of the Center.”

Neufeld said he sees great potential with the Center for the Arts. “I want to see the Center continue to be artistically successful and financially sustainable, while making a positive impact on the greater CB community,” he said this week. “The CFTA is brimming with potential right now, and my goal is to help focus that while I work to understand the goals and concerns of the staff, the board and the greater community. As the new kid in town, I have the luxury of asking a lot of questions to learn more about what’s important to this town and to the community across the valley. These conversations will help me develop a deeper understanding of the needs of this community, which will help the staff and I to prioritize our efforts.

“The Center has a long history of bringing Crested Butte together and contributing to the unique culture of this community,” he added. “That’s the work that excites me, particularly when there is a solid team to drive those programs and initiatives.”