Chris Barclay will step in as interim executive director and be joined by Clayton Evans on the executive team of Arts on the Block, the organization has announced.
The two will take over the organization as Anne L’Ecuyer steps down to become the executive director of Arizona Commission on the Arts after five years at Silver Spring-based AOB.
Barclay is an education advocate, management professional, and working artist-photographer. He also served as the District 4 representative on the county’s Board of Education, twice as president in 2010 and 2013.
Evans has spent most of his 30 professional years working with youth and families in the out-of-school-time field. Evans has taught art to students from kindergarteners to retired adults.
In addition to teaching the visual arts, he was the founding director of the LeRoy Neiman Art Center in Harlem, and executive director of Leave Out Violence-U.S.
AOB recently leased larger space on the first floor of the Silver Spring Library at 900 Wayne Ave.
“Clayton and I look forward to inviting more young people into the new studio, completing the Artist’s Way mural, and producing beautiful new artworks in the coming years,” Barclay said in a press release.
“My time in D.C. taught me a lot, especially about caring for one another and collaborating on community priorities,” said L’Ecuyer in a press release from the Arizona commission.
L’Ecuyer also has roots in Arizona.
“Arizona’s natural and cultural beauty, complexity, and history is like nowhere else on earth. I was lucky enough to grow up here and I am so excited to be home again,” she added.
Graphic from AOB Facebook page