Steve Hoffman

In July 2010, Steve Hoffman became Executive Director of Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts, in Danville, Ky. Before that, he served as President and CEO of the National Steinbeck Center, in Monterey County, California, an international cultural institution and museum with a mission focused on the life, works and philosophies of John Steinbeck. Prior to that, Hoffman spent eleven years as the first CEO of the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, in Sioux Falls, SD. There, he led the multi-disciplinary cultural institution’s Kirby Science Discovery Center and Omnimax-type theater; seven-gallery Visual Arts Center; and Husby Performing Arts Center with its 1,900- and 300-seat theaters. Other professional accomplishments include co-chairing the 2009 and 2010 Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ annual national conferences, serving on the California Association of Museums’ board of directors and speaking at regional and national conferences. He has served on numerous federal, national, state and local grant review panels and currently serves on boards and committees for the Heart of Danville, Danville Community Arts Center, Clayton Center for the Arts at Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn., and the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.

Hoffman has programmed, presented and produced arts performances, exhibitions and activities for over 25 years.  He has been involved with producing the 1991 Los Angeles Olympic Festival Opening Ceremonies and the 2011 Vice Presidential Debate, several National Endowment for the Arts Big Read events, an arts exchange with Yamaguchi Prefectural University (Japan) presenting and touring indigenous arts and cultural activities between the two countries, and hundreds of arts collaborations that partner professional artists with local community groups.