The Edmonton Arts Council (EAC), a non-profit organization that supports and promotes the arts in Edmonton, has named a new executive director. Paul Moulton, a long-time participant in the Edmonton arts scene, recently took over the position, which involves working with the organization’s board and staff.
Moulton, who trained at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, holds a bachelor of arts in drama, and masters degrees in both business administration and arts administration. While he dabbled in the private sector after university, working for a trade-show company in the United States, Moulton says his heart was in the arts. “It was really when I left the arts thatI realized how passionate I was about what went on in the arts,” he says.
The EAC, which is primarily funded by the City of Edmonton, will distribute $13.5 million in grant funding this year to Edmonton’s artists, art organizations, festivals, public art and community arts initiatives.
It’s not the first time Moulton has worked with the EAC. When the organization was founded in 1996, he was named their inaugural board chair, which was a volunteer position. “There’s something nicely circular about the idea that I was involved way back then, but that I get to go back now in a different role and move the agenda forward,” says Moulton.
Moulton’s extensive background in the Edmonton arts scene has prepared him for the position. In the early 1990s, he was an adjunct instructor at MacEwan University in the arts administrator program. He landed a job as the first facility director of the Winspear Centre in 1997. Moulton served on CKUA Radio Network’s board for six years, in addition to four years as executive director of the Arts and Heritage Foundation in St. Albert.
While his roles in Edmonton’s arts scene have traversed between art, music and heritage, they have all had one thing in common – passion. “That’s the baseline for everyone working in the arts: They are there because they love it and care about it,” says Moulton. “It’s really a much different job for a manager to focus that energy and enthusiasm, rather than try to generate it.”
