University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

San Luis Obispo Arts Director to Lead CSUN’s Performing Arts Project

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Jan. 26, 2007) -- Citing the importance of strong leadership during the project’s development, Cal State Northridge President Jolene Koester has announced the appointment of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo arts director Ralph Hoskins as executive director for the regional performing arts center planned for the university.

"Although the project will not break ground until after fall 2007," Koester said, "we recognize that strong leadership and responsible management during the project’s development will be essential to the center’s ultimate success."

Hoskins, director of Cal Poly Arts at the San Luis Obispo campus since 1995, begins his Northridge appointment on Wednesday, Jan. 31. He predicted the new center, whose main hall will seat 1,700 people and host performances for the campus and community, will be a source of pride for the San Fernando Valley and spark its collective imagination.

"There’s nothing that brings a community together quite like a new performing arts center," Hoskins said. "As someone who’s been involved in the opening of two performing arts centers, I’ve seen how a project like the one planned for Northridge can energize a community by building relationships and making new connections.

"It will make the university an integral part of the fabric of this community in ways it never has before," he said.

"With this facility," Hoskins observed, "there is virtually no show, concert or event that we can’t do. It will mean that local residents who love live performance can see their goals and aspirations come to life in their own community."

At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Hoskins oversaw programming of the newly constructed Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo. While there, he expanded the university’s performing arts series from 26 events to 50 as well as the scope of its programming to include spoken word and contemporary music. He also launched a celebrity concert and emerging artists series and an arts education program for K-12 students.

Under Hoskins, the Cal Poly performing arts center subscription base ballooned to nearly five times its original number, and both student attendance and endowment levels increased substantially.

Prior to his work at Cal Poly, Hoskins was executive director of Capitol Arts Alliance, an arts agency in Utah, and executive director of the Utah Festival Opera Company.

A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Hoskins lectured at Golden Gate University and has published fiction, non-fiction and poetry.