Travelers Cos. executive Kathleen Lynch Bolduc will become chief executive of the Greater Hartford Arts Council, effective July 1, council leaders announced today.
Ken Kahn, the council’s current executive director, steps down on June 30.
Bolduc, a life-long resident of Greater Hartford, is currently executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Travelers. She has served on a number of arts and other nonprofit boards in the region, including the Arts Council and Hartford Stage.
She also served as the musical director of Newington Children’s Theatre for 11 years. As vice chair of the Travelers Foundation for the past three years, she also has considerable grant-making experience, and familiarity with a broad spectrum of the region’s nonprofit organizations.
“While I have thoroughly enjoyed my corporate career, for a long time I’ve been considering a move to the nonprofit sector because it’s so much a part of who I am,” Bolduc said in a statement. “The opportunity to lead an organization that has such an impressive national reputation is extraordinarily humbling and exciting.”
Council Chairman Peter Kelly and President Stephen Mulready announced the succession.
“We are thrilled to have found someone who both knows the region’s corporate community well and has a demonstrated passion for the arts in our community,” Kelly said. “We’re confident that she’ll be a strong leader for the arts in Greater Hartford.”
Formed in 1971, the Arts Council makes direct cash grants to more than 150 arts and heritage organizations throughout the Hartford region. It also supports the area’s cultural community with, among other things, umbrella marketing, advocacy and arts education.
