Growing festival shifts staff roles

It's been almost 20 years since the first Sisters Folk Festival took place at Sisters Middle School. A lot has changed since 1995.

Since that time the organization has grown substantially, producing arts-related events throughout the year and funding arts education and scholarships through the Americana Project. The organization manages an annual budget approaching $1 million.

All of that activity and growth takes long hours of planning and execution from a dedicated staff and board. 

After a board of directors' strategic planning retreat, a new strategy was created for the nonprofit last year. It became clear that the festival's programs and activities are too many and too varied to be effectively overseen by a single executive. A new delineation of responsibilities would strengthen the organization and allow staff to do what they do best.

Brad Tisdel has been juggling countless tasks from booking talent for events to managing the Americana Project in the public schools to overseeing event production, administrative functions and staff management. He has now assumed the position of creative director of the organization.

In that role, he will continue to oversee the creative direction of the festival, booking performers and planning the festival's songwriting academies.

When the Oregon Community Foundation announced that Sisters Folk Festival Inc. (SFF) would be a recipient of the new statewide arts education initiative, Studio to School, the timing was right for Tisdel's focus to shift. Tisdel will be the project lead in the expansion of the Americana Project in grades K-8, as well as overseeing existing classes and their instructors.

"I look forward to dedicating my time to booking talent, running programs, and focusing on the creative direction of the organization," he said. "It is a healthy step for the organization to allow me to be able to concentrate on the passion and creativity that is at the foundation of this fantastic year-round cultural arts organization. And to have the talent and nonprofit experience of Ann Richardson managing the operations, this will free me up to do just that."

Tisdel is busy finalizing bookings for this year's festival as well as coordinating the integration of the arts in the science, technology, engineering and math in grades K-8. Working closely with Sisters schools' teachers, Tisdel is looking forward to exploring collaborative strategies for supporting high-quality, innovative arts education with the intention of offering year-round arts education that keeps Sisters schools successful and attractive to new families.

Long-time SFF finance manager Ann Richardson has been appointed the Managing Director, expanding her role and taking on many of the tasks Tisdel was handling as well as initiating changes to fine-tune the organization.

Tisdel and Richardson will share equally in the duties of leading the organization as co-directors.

Grants from Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission and the Roundhouse Foundation will partially fund Richardson's new position over the next two years.

Board chairman Jack McGowan said, "With this partnership of Brad's creativity and vision, which has served this organization and community so well, coupled with the organizational skills that are brought by the addition of Ann Richardson, Sisters Folk Festival has a great combination of expertise that will bring the organization to the next level of success and sustainability."

The 2014 festival is already approaching a sell-out; organizers urge patrons to get their tickets now.

For more information, to buy tickets or make a donation, contact the office at 541-549-4979 or visit their website: www.sistersfolkfestival.org.