Arts Alliance Director Steps Down after 20 Years

The Clackamas Arts Alliance has announced the retirement of Executive Director Cheryl Snow at the end of this year.

“For more than twenty years, Cheryl has worked tirelessly on behalf of supporting and integrating arts and culture into all our county communities,” CCAA said in a release. “Cheryl’s work ethic, wisdom and ability to draw people together in a creative way have benefited us as residents in ways we will never fully realize.”

Together with others, Cheryl was appointed by county commissioners to help develop an initial arts advisory commission in the early 1990s. She steered the growth of that group into the vital and independent non-profit the Arts Alliance is today, with its wide breadth of services that range from grant opportunities, to public arts and culture programs, to a full spectrum of creative-based projects, performances and displays.

CCAA is particularly proud of the programs Cheryl cultivated that benefit at-risk youth and under-served communities, as well as those that support cultural tourism initiatives, community beautification, and art as a healing tool in health care environments. 

“I can think of nothing more rewarding than living a life that allows the daily pursuits of work to be fully engaged with personal passion, interests and intellectual creativity… and that is precisely what the Arts Alliance gave me,” Cheryl said. “How exhilarating! What great good fortune! But the wheels of life roll on, and I am ready to follow where they lead. I’m looking forward to seeing the future reveal itself, day by day.”

The Alliance has begun the search to identify the best next candidate for the executive director position, looking for someone who can lead them into the next 25 years of “Keeping Arts and Culture Central to Life in Clackamas County.”