Executive Director of Greater Augusta Arts Council to retire after 27 years

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The Greater Augusta Arts Council has announced that Executive Director Brenda Durant will be retiring after nearly 3 decades.

Durant took the position in 1997, and under her leadership, she’s taken the arts council to new heights.

“I love that we’re managing public art right now, I love how Arts in the Heart has grown and changed, and has become an award-winning festival in the Southeast, and possibly the United States. So that warms my heart—I feel like I’ve accomplished certain things in what I do,” Durant said.

Arts in the Heart has grown into one of the largest art festivals in the Southeast and the country-drawing more than 100,000 attendees in mid-September every year.

She has also served on several committees, including Georgia Arts Network, Metro Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Augusta, Imperial Theater Board and hosted the Arts Weekly Radio show on Perry Broadcasting for eleven years.

It was also her dream for the arts council to become the city of Augusta’s Public Art Agency, which became a reality in 2014.

Durant says she’s retiring so she can travel and spend more time with her family.

“I have two grandsons–I want to see them. My husband and I also both love to travel, we love the arts, we do things together. So that’s how we’re going to spend our next years,” said Durant.

Along with traveling, she plans to volunteer with local non-profits, and will open a home-based travel agency.

Though she has plans post-retirement, she adds how grateful she is for the past 27 years with the organization.

“I love my office, I love the people I work with–we all work really hard. It’s a very small staff, but we work very hard. We’re launching a new music festival for this Spring–a singer and songwriter festival–I’ll be excited to see that grow and change through the years. But it’s really time for me to not set an alarm anymore,” Durant said.

The Arts Council has named a search committee to find Durant’s replacement.

She will stay on the Arts Council through this year’s Arts in the Heart Festival, which is scheduled for September 20th-22nd this fall.

She will retire in October.

To read more about Durant’s legacy, click here .

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