Former Confluence Arts Center Director Kevin Miller

The Confluence Arts Center is in need of a new executive director following the abrupt resignation of Kevin Miller, who was hired for the job less than four months ago.

The Confluence Council, the board that oversees downtown Eau Claire’s still-under-construction arts center, announced the departure Wednesday, stating that Miller’s resignation had been accepted Monday, Oct. 23.

Vicki Hoehn, president of the Confluence Council’s board of directors, said that she was “not at liberty to discuss” the departure because it was a personnel issue. However, she said she didn’t expect the situation to adversely impact the construction of the $45 million arts center. The facility, which will be shared by UW-Eau Claire and community groups, is slated to open in the fall of 2018.

“I think we’re moving forward,” Hoehn said in a telephone interview shortly after the announcement. “The project isn’t one individual. It’s a community and a collaboration, and we can safely say we’re moving forward just as planned.”

The Confluence Council has named Jason Jon Anderson as acting executive director of the arts center. Anderson is currently assistant director of conferences and event production for University Centers at UWEC.

Hoehn said Anderson has been closely involved in the Confluence – he serves on the Confluence Council – and will help keep the project on track. Hoehn added that the Confluence Council will begin searching for a new, permanent executive director as soon as it can. “It took us about four months to do the initial hire, so I assume it will be a similar amount of time,” she said.

Miller, a UWEC alumnus who officially took the helm at the Confluence Arts Center on July 17, had previously been executive director of the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts in Fond du Lac.

We’ll post more information as this story unfolds. The entire press release follows:

The Confluence Council, which oversees operations of the Confluence Arts Center, on Monday, October 23, accepted the resignation of Kevin Miller, the art center’s executive director, effective immediately.

Jason Jon Anderson, assistant director of conferences and event production for University Centers at UW-Eau Claire, now will serve as acting executive director of the Confluence Arts Center.

At UW-Eau Claire, Anderson oversees event production in all University Centers venues, as well as in other performance venues on and off campus. He also is responsible for the development and administration of conferences, camps, campus-wide special events, festivals and other large events held on and off campus. In addition, he is the production director for the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival, and production manager for the band Bon Iver.

The Confluence Council will begin a new search as soon as possible for a permanent executive director.