Arts Infrastructure with Ira Weiss

Season One, Episode Four: This month’s guest is Ira Weiss. Ira began working at the Ohio Arts Council in 1974. He started as a performing arts coordinator, then presenting touring coordinator, grants office assistant director, to information technology specialist. In 1980 Ira Weiss received the Association of Ohio Dance Companies award for significant contributions to the field of dance in the state of Ohio. Ira was the second person to receive this award. The first was in 1979 to Josephine Schwartz, Founder of Dayton Ballet. OhioDance was established in 1976 in response to a request by the Ohio Arts Council that dance companies in the state organize to provide a coherent channel of communication to, and within, the dance field. Ira Weiss was the staff member of the Ohio Arts Council that helped to make this happen. OhioDance A State of Dance is a six-part series coming out the fourth Friday of each month through November 2023. This podcast is driven by the OhioDance mission to secure the foothold of dance in Ohio through increasing visibility, firming viability, and elevating the position of dance in Ohio. In 2016, a five-person team set out on a mission to capture the achievements of persons and institutions who have shaped the intricate diversity of dance history and practice within the state of Ohio and weave them together in an easily accessible digital format. This we call the OhioDance Virtual Dance Collection. As of 2023 we have highlighted 33 individuals and institutions. The team has traveled over 5000 miles and interviewed 100 individuals in all five regions of Ohio. vdc.ohiodance.org If you like what you are listening to and are not a member of OhioDance, you can go to ohiodance.org and click the membership button to join and receive the many benefits that come with your membership. You can also donate through our purple donate button.