The Chesterfield Cultural Arts Foundation recently announced that it has hired Bruce Miller as its new executive director.
Miller will begin later this spring following the groundbreaking of the new Baxter Perkinson Center for the Arts.
The new venue, the first nonprofit performing arts center in Chesterfield, is a collaboration of the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority and the Chesterfield Cultural Arts Foundation.
The arts center – to be built next to the Chester Library – will have the 350-seat “Jimmy Dean Theatre,” a multi-purpose room with adjoining patio, a dividable classroom and an art gallery, along with all support amenities necessary for a first-rate performing arts center.
Miller is a Chesterfield resident who attended Huguenot High School and the University of Richmond, where he received a bachelor’s degree. Miller and Phil Whiteway co-founded Theatre IV in 1975, which evolved into Virginia Repertory Theater in 2012, with locations including downtown Richmond’s historic November Theatre, Willow Lawn and Hanover Tavern.
Miller stepped down as artistic director of Virginia Rep in 2016 as part of a long-term transition
“The board is thrilled to welcome someone with the talent, experience and local background that Bruce brings to the table,” arts foundation chairman Hugh Cline said in a press release. “Bruce has both the rare ability and experience, having worked in all areas of the arts within the Central Virginia region for over 40 years, to make him the perfect choice. He knows the ins and outs of the business, and we could not have found a better person to open, develop and enhance all the good things this venue will bring to the citizens, young and old, within the region.”
