Fran Bradshaw has been hired as the director of the performing arts center at Weber State University’s Val A. Browning Center.
Relocating to Utah from Louisiana, Bradshaw functioned as a public venue manager and maintained his own management consulting firm.
Bradshaw said it has been a demanding three months since he accepted his new role in Utah, but it has been worth it as he works to make the interdepartmental communication a top priority.
“We’ve taken a look at all the training that needs to be done (and) set up their training schedule,” said Bradshaw.
Working closely with the staff and implementing quarterly performance evaluations for every employee, he intends to focus on learning what the staff goals are and what they need to do in order to accomplish those goals.
The Browning Center has been without a director for eight months and it is a welcome change for the campus.
“He already has made great strides in communication among staff, and between his staff and the performing arts area personnel,” said Madonne Miner, dean of Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities.
As director, Bradshaw’s duties include working with the Browning Center staff to reach their goals, meeting with clients in the community and getting more groups to rent out one of the Browning Center’s three theaters. One of his goals is to creating a more vivacious center on campus for the theater community in northern Utah.
Kiersten “Fluffy” Blake enjoys working alongside her new director and is excited about the upcoming changes the center will see. As the production manager, Blake oversees the planning and scheduling of the events.
“Mr. Bradshaw’s lifetime of experience in the performing arts and facility management will be a great asset to our department in the coming decade as we work to embrace the performing arts in the future,” Blake said.
Along with working with the staff and faculty, Bradshaw is working to prepare the students in the performing arts for their careers outside of school. He wants students to be familiar with how the process works and hopes that they gain experience in the arts. He believes students should be equipped to find a job once they receive their college degree and have no qualms about their choice to study at Weber State University.
The Val A. Browning Center is in the process of creating a strategic plan for the next five years for the facility. Bradshaw hopes to have these plans ready for the dean in the next three weeks, which will help the center go in the right direction for WSU.
“It is expensive to operate a facility that has three performance spaces, recital rooms, practice rooms, classrooms, studios and offices,” Miner said. “We want to presents our finest face to the public and to our own students, faculty and staff.”
