Hopkins Center for the Arts Appoints New Director

Mary Lou Aleskie, a leader in the arts world known for the distinctive programming she has created over more than three decades, will be the next director of the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Aleskie comes to Dartmouth from New Haven, Conn., where, since 2005, she has been the director of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. As director, she has produced critically acclaimed performances that have fostered local as well as international engagement. Under Aleskie’s leadership, the 15-day series of performing arts, lectures, and public conversations has been cited by the National Endowment for the Arts as one of the top five arts presentations in the nation. It is considered the largest international multi-disciplinary festival in New England, and one of the only festivals in North America that blend performances from around the world with dialogues among leading thinkers.

Aleskie is an internationally known advocate for the power of the arts to bring people together, not only within local communities, but around the globe. She is chair of the board of the International Society for the Performing Arts, a New York-based global association for performing arts leaders that has 500 members from 60 countries. “I think the world is getting smaller every day, and the more that we learn to understand each other, the better. I can’t imagine a better way to do that than by sharing arts and culture,” she says.