Executive Director

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Executive Director	Mr. E. Frank Bluestein
E-mail	efbluestein@gmail.com
Term Start	August 2008
E. Frank's Experience: Frank Bluestein is the 1996-1997 Disney National Performing Arts Teacher of the Year and the 1994 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. In October of 1998, USA Today named Mr. Bluestein as one of the top 40 teachers in the United States. Mr. Bluestein is a past winner of the American Theatre Association's John C. Barner Award. He has served as an arts advisory panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, the College Board Arts Advisory Committee, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. Mr. Bluestein is a former president both of the Tennessee Alliance for Arts Education and the Germantown Arts Alliance. He currently serves as executive director for Tennessee Shakespeare Company, executive director of the Tennessee Arts Academy Foundation and managing director of the Tennessee Arts Academy, a nationally recognized statewide teacher training institute located in Nashville, Tennessee. Until his recent retirement, Mr. Bluestein served for thirty-seven years as the chairman of the Germantown High School Fine Arts Department in Germantown, Tennessee. He was the artistic director of the school's theatre, the Poplar Pike Playhouse, and also served as executive producer for Germantown Community Television, the school's three million dollar educational television facility. During Mr. Bluestein's tenure, Germantown Community Television was named eleven times by the Alliance for Community Media as the Best Community Access Station in the USA. He led his team of teachers and scores of students to win two national student Emmys for sports (2004) and writing (2007) as well as 33 regional first-place student Emmy awards. Mr. Bluestein served as a director of shows at Opryland, USA, and most recently wrote and directed the national touring production of Beale Street Saturday Night starring blues legend Joyce Cobb. In September of 2013, Mr. Bluestein was inducted into the Educational Theatre Association Hall of Fame in Minneapolis.

Staff

Full Time Staff	1
Part Time Staff	2
Volunteers	4
Contractors	6
Retention Rate	100%

Plans & Policies

Does your organization have a Fundraising Plan?	Yes
Does your organization have a Strategic Plan?	Under Development
Years Strategic Plan Considers	3
When was the Strategic Plan adopted?
Does your organization have a Management Succession Plan?	Under Development
Does your organization have a Policy and Procedure Plan?	Yes
Does the organization have a Nondiscrimination Policy?	Yes
Does the organization have a Whistle Blower Policy?	No
Does the organization have a Document Destruction Policy?	Yes

Evaluation

Is there a formal evaluation for...		Frequency (if applicable)
CEO/Executive Director	N/A	N/A
Senior Management	N/A	N/A
Non-Management	N/A	N/A

Affiliations

Affiliation	Year
Tennesseans for the Arts	2011

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

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The major challenge for staffing for the Tennessee Arts Academy Foundation is simply the lack of funding available for an executive director who can be employed on a more regular basis throughout the year. Currently, the executive director and the office manager for the Arts Academy also serve in similar positions with TAAF. This has worked nicely and has allowed for seamless communication between both groups. As TAAF has grown and become more active, there is a desire to expand activities and to accomplish more throughout the year to move the organization forward. Because board members are spread throughout all geographic areas of Tennessee, an executive director who could devote more time to the organization could provide a means to bridge the gap between the quarterly meetings and do more to help bring awareness to TAA and TAAF in all areas of the state. For now, the organization is working well and will continue to discover ways to build on the strengths utilizing of its existing administrative structure. As part of its mission, the strategic planning committee will work to identify new leadership models for TAA and TAAF.