Director of Dance Represents NEA Nationwide

Sara C. Nash ’01 joined the National Endowment for the Arts as its new director of dance in August. In that role, Nash will oversee a grants portfolio that in 2017 numbered more than 165 grants totaling $4.2 million. She will represent the NEA at dance-related conferences and meetings across the country.

Nash, who graduated from Mary Washington with a degree in theater and dance, has nearly two decades of national and international experience in dance as a funder, producer, and project director. Before joining the NEA, she was director for dance at the New England Foundation for the Arts, overseeing its national dance project.

Earlier, Nash managed the USArtists International grant program at Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. She also worked as senior producer at Dance Theater Workshop (New York Live Arts) for more than six years, where she oversaw the international program, the Suitcase Fund, and developed residency programs for commissioned artists. Nash’s international experience includes working at Tanec Praha, a contemporary dance festival in Prague, and at the British Council in London.

Nash frequently served as a moderator, guest speaker, and panelist for organizations such as the Alliance of Artists Communities, Dance/USA, the Japan Foundation, MANCC, and the NEA, among many others.