Sonnonstine named NAC director of development
Linda Sonnonstine has been named Director of Development for the Nantucket Arts Council. Prior to joining the NAC, she served as public relations and development coordinator for the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.

Linda Sonnonstine

In her new position at the NAC, Sonnonstine will be responsible for developing and overseeing a comprehensive fundraising program, including membership outreach, major individual and corporate donor cultivation, grantwriting, special fundraising events, annual appeals and board development.

Her work will focus upon the NAC's annual programs - the Nantucket Arts Festival and Shakespeare Festival, the scholarship program for Nantucket students pursuing careers in the arts, the awarding of grants to other local nonprofit cultural organizations, the Young People's Concert and the winter concert and film series.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce the hiring of Linda Sonnonstine as our first director of development," said Levine. "We are looking forward to an exciting and productive future exploring the many possibilities and directions that we will take to fully realize the potential of this wonderful organization."

Before moving to Nantucket as a full-time resident in November 2006, Sonnonstine served as director of planning and marketing at the Long Beach Museum of Art in southern California, where she was responsible for overseeing strategic planning, public relations, marketing, special events, the museum restaurant and gift shop. Her consulting career also includes projects and campaigns for other nonprofit organizations including the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, the Venice Family Clinic's annual Venice Art Walk, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Her corporate experience includes serving as manager of public and community relations for Simon Property Group, the nation's largest owner and manager of shopping centers. She was also an adjunct professor in the department of communications at Santa Monica College.

Professionally she is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and a member of the American Association of Museums. She holds a B.A. in education, cum laude, from Louisiana Teach University and pursued graduate studies in public relations and marketing at California State University, Fullerton, serving as a graduate assistant. Sonnonstine and her long-time partner Craig Spery are members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nantucket, the Nantucket Historical Association and the Maria Mitchell Association.

She also serves as a member of the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce's public relations committee. Her son, Ben, is in his final year of law school at Whittier College in southern California. Sonnonstine has been an annual visitor to Nantucket for the past 10 years.

Founded in 1973, the Nanucket Arts Council is a nonprofit organization that promotes the appreciation of, provides access to, and supports the arts on Nantucket with year-round programming in the visual arts, film, music, dance, theater and performing arts for all ages. Annual NAC programs include the Nantucket Arts Festival in the fall and Shakespeare Festival in the summer, the scholarship program for Nantucket students pursuing careers in the arts, the awarding of grants to other local nonprofit cultural organizations, the Young People's Concert and the winter concert and film series.

For more information, contact development@nantucketartscouncil.or

g or 508-325-8588. I