Press release from Gov. Pat McCrory’s office, shared July 23:
RALEIGH – Gov. Pat McCrory announced the following appointments on July 23 to the North Carolina Arts Council:
- Robin Rogers Branstrom (Mecklenburg County) – Branstrom is the chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library Foundation Board. She serves on the cabinet of the Campaign for Cultural Facilities and has served as chair of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees, the Children’s Theater of Charlotte Board of Trustees and several other cultural boards.
- Allen Huffman (Catawba County) – Huffman is a retired physician. He and his wife Barry are avid Catawba Valley pottery and Southern contemporary folk art collectors. Huffman has served as president of the founding board of the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove. He currently serves on the executive committee for the Lake Norman Folk Art Festival.
- Nancy Temple (Wake County) – Temple is president of NTemple Consulting. Prior to this, she was the vice president of corporate communications for Progress Energy Inc. Temple is the former chief-of-staff to Gov. James G. Martin.
- Ann Wilson Sapp (Guilford County) -Sapp established Greensboro’s first charter school, Greensboro Academy, and has been a part of several other areas of community involvement. She founded The Mad Society, the school’s fundraising and booster club for the arts, and enjoys volunteering at her church, First Presbyterian of Greensboro.
- Ira J. “Jerry” Jackson III (Wake County) – Jackson is a member of the JC Raulston Arboretum Board of Advisors and of the executive committee leading the effort to create a new home for the Gregg Museum of Art & Design at NC State. He is a founding member of Friends of ARTS NC State and chaired that board from 2006-08.
- Keith Holliday (Guilford County) – Holliday is president and CEO of Carolina Theatre of Greensboro Inc. Holliday is a former councilman-at-large and mayor of Greensboro. Prior to his time with Carolina Theatre, Holliday worked in the banking industry.
- Ray McKinney (Forsyth County) – McKinney is a retired wealth management executive for Wachovia. He has served as a past president of the Winston-Salem Symphony Board of Directors. McKinney is a member of the Reynolda House Museum of American Art Board and the Kate Bitting Reynolds Trust.
- Jean McLaughlin (Mitchell County) – McLaughlin is the executive director of the Penland School of Crafts, a nonprofit national center for craft education in Spruce Pine. Prior to her time with Penland, McLaughlin served as director of the Office of Statewide Initiatives for the North Carolina Arts Council.
The council advises the secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources on the study, collection and dissemination of arts information and provides direction on how to assist local organizations and communities in the development and sustaining of arts resources. The Arts Council board also advises on the exchange of information and promotion of programs between public and private organizations, and how to provide opportunities for citizens across the state to experience and benefit from the arts. Each term length is three years.