Brannan Center Names Kyle Clausen as Founding Executive Director
Clausen to Lead All Programming and Administration for Community and Performing Arts Center Scheduled to Open Fall 2025
Following an extensive national search, the Board of Directors of Brannan Center is thrilled to announce that Kyle Clausen has joined the organization as its founding Executive Director. Clausen will lead all aspects of programming and administration for the community and performing arts organization, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in Fall 2025. Clausen commenced his role on July 1, 2024.
“In Kyle Clausen, we have found a fantastic leader for Brannan Center,” noted Edward Kozel, Chair of the Board of Directors, in making the announcement. “His more than 20 years of experience in the arts and culture sector, and in particular his experience working with a diversity of organizations to implement best practices in organizational management, deepen community engagement, and increase impact, make him the ideal person to turn Brannan Center facility into a thriving community resource."
Clausen's appointment comes at a pivotal time for the organization, which began construction to renovate the Community Presbyterian Church in March 2023 into a state-of-the-art community and performing arts center. Major construction is currently on schedule to be completed in mid-2025 with a public opening envisioned for Fall 2025.
Clausen joins Brannan Center with an extensive background in leadership of non- profit organizations, including previous posts as Executive Director of Boston Court Pasadena, an arts center specializing in development of new work in music and theater in the Los Angeles area, Managing Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Director of Marketing and Patron Services at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Most recently, Clausen has worked as a leadership and transition consultant, serving as a strategic advisor and interim leader for a wide variety of non-profit organizations on the West Coast.
“I am truly honored to serve as the founding Executive Director of Brannan Center,” noted Clausen. “As a leader who has spent his career helping organizations navigate change and transition and become stronger in the process, the opportunity to work with the Board of Directors and the community at large to create and operationalize a vision for the Brannan Center is a dream come true." He continued: "I'm particularly inspired by the Board's vision for filling a need in the community and for creating a place where every community member has the opportunity to be involved."
Clausen was selected through a rigorous process over a period of several months from an initial pool of more than 30 applicants. The Brannan Center search committee was led by Former Board Chair Sara Kozel, and included Board Members Anne Carver, Edie Engelhard, Edward Kozel, Indira Lopez-Jones and Erin Smith- Hagberg.
About Brannan Center
Brannan Center, a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, was formed by a group of Calistoga residents to embark on an adaptive re-use, restoration and expansion of the historic property at 1407 Third Street in Calistoga, California. When complete, Brannan Center will be a contemporary, multipurpose building with two primary performance halls totaling nearly 4,000 square feet with a single performance capacity of 180 people, a grand outdoor terrace, a demonstration kitchen and several flexible spaces perfect for meetings, classes and conferences.
About Kyle Clausen, Executive Director
Kyle Clausen is a visionary arts executive specializing in growth, transition and change. Throughout his career spanning more than 20 years, first as a musician, subsequently as an executive leader, he developed a love for tackling big, systemic challenges and helping build strong, confident organizations.
His leadership posts have included nonprofit, governmental and university-based organizations: Managing Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Deputy Director of the Marin Center (County of Marin), General Manager in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Director of Marketing & Patron Services at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and Executive Director of Boston Court Pasadena, where he led the organization through a period of significant transition, developed a new staffing structure, increased both earned and contributed revenue, grew the organization’s audience and brought the organization’s budget into balance. '
Clausen has served as a grants panelist for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the LA Arts Recovery Fund at the California Community Foundation and Arts Council Santa Cruz County. Originally hailing from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, he also is an accomplished musician, having begun his career as a music director, pianist and conductor with more than 40 theatrical productions and national tours to his credit.