Bluffton Forum to address the arts

John Bracey, executive director of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, will discuss "The Backstory-Funding, Education and Advocacy in the Arts" at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, in Bluffton University's Yoder Recital Hall. The Bluffton Forum presentation is free and open to the public.

Bracey joined the Michigan arts council in 1998 as director of programs and became executive director in 2006. He was recently elected to the board of directors for Arts Midwest and is serving a three-year term as a board member for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. He has also served on a programmatic task force for the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Bracey previously worked as a journalist and as head of communications and educational programs for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. He holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Michigan-Flint, where he currently lectures in the Rackham Graduate School in Arts Administration.