Arlynn Fishbaugh

Vice Chair

Board Member through January 2012
afishbaugh@mt.gov

Arlynn Fishbaugh is currently the Executive Director of the Montana Arts Council, a position she has held since November of 1992. Known to her colleagues as Arni, she grew up on a wheat farm in Carter, Montana, near Fort Benton - the birthplace of Montana. She received her undergraduate degree in theatre from the University of Montana, Missoula, and a Master's in Theatre Management from UCLA.

Her career has centered in the field of arts marketing, having held positions at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and with Houston Grand Opera's touring division, Texas Opera Theatre, where she developed a marketing assistance program for tour presenters that was used as a national model. She left Texas for New York City, where she served for five years as the associate director of marketing for the Metropolitan Opera. Following this position, she became Executive Director of the National Video Corporation's Direct Marketing division in NYC, which was at the time the world's premier producer of opera and ballet on videocassette, with parent operations based out of London.

Arni returned to Montana in 1990. She has been a frequent speaker on arts marketing and tour marketing for colleges, universities, state and regional arts agencies throughout the years. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and has served on the Board of Trustees for the Western States Arts Federation and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.