Stark County’s About magazine named its county arts council’s CEO, Robb Hankins, Person of the Year for 2015. In the decade since he has been in his position at ArtsinStark, Hankins has championed local artists and helped transform Canton, Ohio’s downtown into a vibrant hub through the arts, with art galleries, restaurants, music clubs, public artwork and the popular monthly art celebration called First Friday. Hankins has also expanded the council’s in-school arts program, SmArts, to all of the local public school districts and Catholic elementary and middle schools.  

 

ArtsinStark is also a United Arts Fund and raised $1.77 million in its last campaign. Over the last decade, it has provided about $1.4 million in grants to small nonprofits and individual artists.

 

Follow the link to learn more about why Robb Hankins was recognized by About as Stark County’s Person of the Year:  http://www.aboutstark.com/features/person-of-the-year-robb-hankins.