ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230032
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ABINGDON
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Robbie Wood, formerly administrative assistant to the vice president of development at Hampden-Sydney College, has been named development director for Barter Theatre.
She will be in charge of completing Barter's capital campaign and developing a long-range plan to keep Virginia's state theater growing.
"Barter is a good thing," Wood said, and it is a "pleasure to get to go out and tell people all about it and invite them to participate."
Barter recently completed a $1.7 million renovation, adding 100 seats and other improvements. It upgraded its technical and production facilities, expanded box office and gift shops, added dressing rooms and improved climate control in the building. Future plans include improving its Stage II facilities across Main Street, its production facilities, and the Barter Inn which includes actors' residences and Barter offices.
Barter Foundation Inc. "conducted a wide and deep search for the right qualities and background in the development director who will take us out of our growth phase and into the next," said Barter's Artistic Director Rick Rose. "Robbie Wood certainly has the experience, enthusiasm, ideas and dedication."
Wood said she enjoyed her work at Hampden-Sydney, but "I was ready for a change, ready to take on tasks with more range. I wanted to do some creative things beyond the constraints of education."
Once the capital campaign material is completed, she said, "it will be time to renew our efforts in building the relationships that sustain Barter year in and year out. We need to strengthen our communication with businesses, corporations and individuals who understand the very great need for Barter's contribution to our local arts and entertainment, as well as to the entire region and, ultimately, the state."
A Farmville native, Wood holds a business degree from Longwood College. She predicts that, over the next five years, "Barter will emerge as an economic as well as artistic powerhouse on a national level."
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB