Here is my Friday morning January 7 suntimes.com and Saturday January 8, 2011 Chicago Sun-Times story on Elizabeth Hurley's move from the Grant Park Music Festival to The Art Institute of Chicago.
Elizabeth Hurley
Grant Park Music Festival chief leaves for Art Institute
BY ANDREW PATNER
Elizabeth Hurley, executive director of the Grant Park Music Festival and a former longtime development officer of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has been named vice-president for development at The Art Institute of Chicago effective Feb. 14
Hurley, 48, served for just over a year at Grant Park. After leaving the CSO she held fundraising positions at the United States Olympic Committee and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
"We are sorry to see Elizabeth depart after such a short time," Beth Rodriguez, president of the Grant Park Orchestral Association board, said in a statement. "But she leaves the organization in great shape for the coming season."
The Association presents the free summer classical music festival at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park with the Chicago Park District and the city's Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). The future of the DCA has been up in the air in the final months of the Daley Administration with numerous layoffs and budget cuts
"The 2011 festival membership drive is ahead of schedule and expected to sell out," Rodriguez continued. "A full-time front-of-house manager has been hired and a director of development will be announced shortly. We will miss Elizabeth this summer, but as our new neighbor to the south, we expect to see her frequently and wish her well."
The 2011 Grant Park Music Festival season, programmed by Grant Park Orchestra principal conductor Carlos Kalmar and Grant Park Chorus director Christopher Bell, will be announced in mid-February.
A national search will begin shortly for a new festival executive director, according to Rodriguez.
The previous development chief at the museum, Mary Jane Drews, left last year after four years and the museum began advertising for the position in the fall.
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