curtis king | director of community relations

Curtis King began his career in the performing arts in the mid-1980s at the Inner City Cultural Center (ICCC) in Los Angeles, California. He garnered a myriad of experiences on both the administrative and technical side of the theatre and his time at ICCC inspired him to seek a way of combining his love for the arts and his training in business administration.

Curtis holds an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration from Southwestern Christian College, in Terrell, Texas, and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management and Marketing from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. While completing his Master of Business Administration degree at Howard University in Washington, DC, Curtis included coursework in Howard's highly regarded fine arts department and secured a marketing internship at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He accepted a position in the organization's Public Affairs Department and later returned to the Marketing Department to serve in a newly-created position of Marketing Assistant. During his tenure at the Kennedy Center, Curtis took a proactive role in reaching out to residents of the DC area, encouraging new audiences to attend programs in music, dance, and theatre.

Curtis relocated to Atlanta and served as the Community Relations Director for the Alliance Theatre Company during Kenny Leon's tenure as Artistic Director and Jane Bishop's as General Manager. His position was made possible through the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and he brought a fresh grassroots approach to promoting the arts, creating a presence for the Alliance in the community and, in turn, inviting the community to take advantage of the theatre's offerings. Curtis played a vital leadership role in increasing patronage among members of the African American community while making inroads to increase the company's overall audience diversity. He was featured on the National Endowment of the Arts website as an example of success with audience development and diversity.

Curtis serves at the President of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Coalition of the Performing Arts.