Darren lee (dee) miller has been named Executive Director of the Dairy Barn Arts Center. Miller is a collaborative and visionary arts leader, scholar, and educator working at the intersection of nonprofit management, academic leadership, and community-engaged cultural practice. With more than 18 years of experience in higher education and senior leadership roles, dee’s work centers on strengthening institutions so that artists, students, and communities can thrive.
Miller’s professional experience spans strategic planning, board and governance leadership, fundraising and donor engagement, budget oversight, program development, and organizational capacity-building. It is paired with deep expertise in arts administration, arts management, and championing the public value of the arts. Dee’s leadership has guided complex organizations through periods of transition, stewarded historic cultural assets, expanded access and participation, and cultivated partnerships across sectors, and disciplines.
As a scholar-practitioner, miller’s teaching, writing, curatorial work, and artwork are grounded in the belief that the arts are a public good. Particular areas of focus include place-based and community-centered approaches to arts leadership; interdisciplinary collaboration across the arts, humanities, and business. Of equal importance is preparing the next generation of arts leaders with the strategic, financial, and ethical tools required for sustainable careers. Alongside extensive experience mentoring students and emerging professionals, dee’s academic and creative contributions have been shared through numerous residencies, publications, conferences, public lectures, exhibitions, workshops, acquisitions, and a 2019-20 Fulbright Research Fellowship to Brazil.
Miller is equally adept at working with boards, donors, and civic partners and collaborating with faculty, artists, and students. Whether leading a nonprofit arts organization or building an interdisciplinary academic program, dee’s approach is values-driven, collaborative, future-oriented, and focused on care for people, place, and the creative work that connects them.