Tafi Stober new NPAC executive director

VW independent/submitted information

The Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation (VWAPAF), along with The Van Wert County Foundation, announce that Tafi Stober has been named the next executive director of the Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation.

Stober has over 20 years of professional and personal pursuits that are rich in brand and marketing management, economic development, and community enrichment. She began promoting the arts in the region as marketing director of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center (NPAC) in 2012 and will succeed Paul Hoverman, first and only director of the NPAC, who is retiring in May 2019.

“Paul Hoverman deserves great credit during his tenure as executive director for guiding the NPAC business from infancy to a nationally recognized performing arts center,” said Performing Arts Foundation Board Chairman Chuck Koch. “We are going to miss Paul’s wisdom and talent as he identified artists and engaged with their agents to secure their appearances in Van Wert.

“At the same time, we welcome Tafi Stober and the energy and enthusiasm she brings as our new executive director,” Koch added. “We will be in good hands with Tafi. I would encourage our friends and patrons in the coming months to please take time to thank Paul for his years of service to our organization and to welcome Tafi as she assumes her role as our new executive director.”

Stober’s hiring will kick off a plan for strategic growth in programming, development, and community outreach. This will build on the successes of the 2018-2019 season when plans and fundraising efforts for a backstage annex were unveiled.

“Music ignites Van Wert County with life; we are living in extraordinary days of outstanding artistic opportunity that did not happen by chance,” Stober noted. “The strong foundation of cultural excellence began with visionaries and benefactors who made possible the arts landscape that the entire region enjoys today.

“Paul Hoverman’s proven leadership ushered in an era of entertainment that became a backdrop of treasured life moments for thousands of residents and guests of Van Wert,” added Stober.

Furthering that mission, VWAPAF turns to the future, but not before celebrating the splendor of the present and reveling in the musical and educational opportunities within reach that uplift, educate, and inspire.

“These grand musical adventures provide an escape and expand our awareness and appreciation of life and cultures, all the while enriching our own — the value of which aligns with my personal and career purpose,” Stober said. “Being appointed as a steward and purveyor of musical opportunity in Van Wert County is a role that I embrace with a humble heart, great joy, and eager anticipation.”

The mission of the Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation is to provide a premier venue for a wide variety of performing arts, concerts, lectures, meetings, and special events which inspire, educate, and entertain residents of and visitors to Van Wert County, and to provide an economic catalyst by increasing cultural tourism, creating new jobs, and generating business for the region.

The Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Fountain Park Summer Music Series, The Van Wert Area Performance of Handel’s Messiahand The Young Artists Showcase are all products of that mission provided through the Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation on behalf of the Van Wert County Foundation.