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FRED W. WRIGHT JR.New position: Chief financial officer, Performing Arts Center and Theater, Clearwater. Previous position: Senior vice president, North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte
Since October, Richard Walker has been learning the operations of two institutions in Clearwater.
He is the new chief financial officer for the Performing Arts Center and Theater, which operates Ruth Eckerd Hall, and he also acts as adviser to the Performing Arts Center Foundation.
"I'm responsible for overseeing the financial operations and investments for both PACT Inc. and the PAC Foundation," Walker said. The PAC Foundation raises funds to support Ruth Eckerd Hall, he explained.
"My primary responsibility is the finances for operations and an advisory role for the foundation," he said. "One master and one client."
The duties are largely financial, and this is what Walker enjoys. He joins Ruth Eckerd Hall after nearly a dozen years with a larger venue, the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte. He left the Blumenthal in 2002 to take a year off but, he said, "I wanted to get back into the arts."
Taking the job in Clearwater meant moving out of North Carolina, where he had lived since college, Walker said. He grew up in Kingsport, Tenn., and moved to North Carolina after graduating in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
After working briefly for a finance company in Charlotte, Walker joined the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in 1991 as an accounting manager. "That got me started," he said. "I kept finding new responsibilities and new roles" at the Blumenthal.
"What I love about this (profession) more than anything else is that it's such a diverse environment. You're never dealing with the same situations, the same people, the same crises. You're constantly changing," he said. "I love that."
Walker said he enjoys the challenges of problem-solving. "I like the fact that I've got to think quickly on my feet," he said. "I like the fact that it's not a routine. You don't have to make the same decision over and over. I'm not someone who deals well with monotony."
While working at the Blumenthal, Walker said he discovered a "great appreciation for the arts, and seeing what it takes to accomplish a production when it goes on stage. It's really fascinating."
At the North Carolina venue, Walker said he oversaw every aspect of the performing arts center, from ticket sales to the performance. "It was a much larger role in Charlotte and it's a much smaller role here, which I'm happy about," he said.
As a growing connoisseur of the performing arts, Walker said he likes a "wide variety of product. I'm still struggling with opera," he confesses. "I'm developing an appreciation for it. I don't hate it but I haven't developed a love for it yet.
"My favorite is the Broadway product."
Walker said he has been surprised by the variety of shows the 20-year-old Ruth Eckerd Hall offers. "Ruth Eckerd tends to be more of a blended product," he said. "A lot of the halls I've had contact with over the years seem to have a very isolated product. Ruth Eckerd has a real nice blend of all of those."
Walker, 35, is single and lives in Palm Harbor.
In his spare time, Walker said he likes to hike, often in national parks such as the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parks in the Northwest and Alaska. "I love to be out in nature," he said. "It tends to be my escape. The cell phones don't work (there)."