Milton Rhodes

Imagine being fast-forwarded from the Winston-Salem of 1984 to the Winston-Salem of 2004. You'd have found the once-booming city a far different place. The economy was floundering. The corporate powerbrokers could no longer be relied upon to fix every problem with generous cash gifts. But a new, broad-based group of leaders was at work recapturing the city's can-do attitude.

That's what Milton Rhodes found when he returned here in 2004 after an absence of almost 20 years. He'd spent some of the most successful years of his career here as the head of the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, which allocates funds to numerous arts organizations throughout the city and county. He was 26 when he arrived here and 40 when he left in 1985 to follow career opportunities elsewhere. When he returned to the reins at the council, he was 59, an age when many are winding down their careers, content with the status quo.

A few critics thought he was the wrong choice. But Rhodes, whose energy had been tempered with wisdom, proved them wrong. Using broad strokes, with the city as his canvas, he helped create a vibrant, essential arts community. Rhodes, who speaks with a deep but refined Southern accent, charmed and cajoled patrons and artists. He quickly found new ways of raising money and interest in the arts, leading the way in planning a downtown arts center that will soon become a reality in the Sawtooth Building, recession be damned. Last week, he announced that he'll step down from the council in the fall of 2010. The council board must find a leader who can match his vision, as well as his deftness in dancing to the beat of the changing economy.

During his first stint at the arts council, Rhodes increased its annual budget from $138,000 to $1.53 million. He was aggressive, to the point of aggravating some colleagues. But he led in broadening the appeal of the arts throughout the community. And he began to harness the arts as an economic driver, particularly in downtown revitalization.

When Rhodes returned in 2004 after holding key spots that included managing Charleston's Spoleto Festival, the economy was in a downturn that would intensify. The council was struggling financially and to stay relevant in the community. Rhodes realized that the organization could no longer rely on the same old-line families and companies for its financial support. He tapped into new sources for money and leadership, including everyone from doctors to grass-roots leaders. He increased efforts to explain to the public the importance of the arts to the local economy and revitalization. And while he hasn't lost his edge, he has mellowed. "I think I've learned how to deal with colleagues in a much less aggressive way," Rhodes said. "That's age."

He has convened community meetings on the arts, encouraged public displays of art and pressured the Tourism Development Authority, the Winston-Salem City Council and the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners to increase their allocations to the arts council. One of his ideas, that of putting big box and retail businesses along Hanes Mall Boulevard and Stratford Road into a special tax district to support the arts, was just plain wrong, but overall his ideas have been good and his batting average impressive.

He's as much at ease hearing the financial needs of a struggling gallery owner as he is soliciting donations from a wealthy biotech executive. Rhodes recognizes the creative synergy, as well as the economic benefit, of merging those worlds. As a result, the council has started an effort to market Winston-Salem as "The City of Arts and Innovation."

In reinvigorating the local arts community, Rhodes had a solid foundation from which to work. The National Black Theatre Festival, which Larry Leon Hamlin began four years after Rhodes left, was by 2004 a must-cover event for national theater critics. The arts district in downtown Winston-Salem was blossoming.

But before Rhodes arrived, a planned development on the western edge of downtown, one in which the council was to have had a performing arts center, fizzled. Rhodes, undeterred, led his organization in its drive for a downtown arts center. That facility, which will feature performing and visual arts, is nearing completion. Unlike the downtown baseball stadium, which was stalled during much of 2009, progress on the arts center has proceeded smoothly. The council's $26-million fundraising campaign, which includes financing and an endowment for the center, is nearing completion.

Rhodes plans to step down as the center opens. We expect that he will keep his hand in community affairs.

As for the arts, the struggle to provide ongoing support for the center and the rest of the local arts community will continue. The council must attempt to find a new leader who can confront the challenges of 2010 and beyond as well as Rhodes met those of his era.

A flourishing arts community benefits the entire community. All of us are benefactors of the accomplishments of Milton Rhodes. We owe him our gratitude.