Rachel D. Graham, the Director of External Relations for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, has been named the new CEO of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), effective March 15.
BOPA’s board voted 3 to 0 Tuesday to approve Graham’s appointment, following a nationwide search led by m/Oppenheim Executive Search. The vote came 13 months after Mayor Brandon Scott called for the resignation of former BOPA CEO Donna Drew Sawyer, after she failed to produce a series of festivals and other events that BOPA was contractually obligated to put on, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade for 2023.
Todd Yuhanick has served as BOPA’s interim CEO since June 2. Brian Davis Lyles, the former chair of BOPA’s board, served without pay as interim CEO from January 2023 until Yuhanick took over. Board members voting for Graham were acting chair Andrew Chaveas, Jeffrey Kent and B. R. Hammed-Owens.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire staff, we are thrilled to welcome Rachel as we reassert the mission and impact of BOPA to empower local creatives of our community and celebrate the rich diversity of our city’s artistic and cultural assets,” Chaveas said in a statement. “Rachel brings a wealth of experience and a true passion for the arts to her new role and has our full confidence in building on the lessons learned and leading BOPA forward for the benefit of our essential stakeholders and entire community.”
Chaveas also thanked Yuhanick for his work over the past eight months.
“We could not be more grateful to Todd Yuhanick, who stepped in at a critical time as Interim CEO and successfully led the return of Artscape, in collaboration with the Office of the Mayor, in addition to his many other contributions,” Chaveas said.
Yuhanick “stabilized a rocking ship and did an amazing job doing it,” Chaveas said after the board meeting.
Yuhanick said he plans to stay at BOPA through March 15 to ensure a smooth transition. “I’m proud of what we accomplished since June 2,” he said in a message. “BOPA is now on solid footing to move forward.”
BOPA is an independent agency that is located at 7 Saint Paul Street and has a contract to serve the city of Baltimore as its events producer, arts council and film office. Upcoming events include the Fourth of July fireworks display at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor; Artscape 2024, scheduled for early August; and the Baltimore Book Festival, which will take place in Waverly this year.
In addition to organizing and supporting free city-wide cultural events, BOPA supports Baltimore’s creative community through funding and support for artists, arts programs and artistic and cultural organizations across the Baltimore. It also provides staff to the city’s Public Art Commission, the steward for the city’s extensive inventory of public art and monuments.
BOPA’s contract with the city is scheduled to expire on June 30. City officials have not indicated whether it will be renewed. Tonya Miller Hall, a former BOPA executive who now serves as Senior Advisor of Arts and Culture in the Mayor’s Office, said a new contract would have to be approved by Baltimore’s Board of Estimates for BOPA to work with the city beyond June 30.
Even though a new contract has not been approved, Graham’s appointment is a sign that the city, which provides the bulk of the BOPA’s operating funds, is moving to work with the agency beyond June 30. In addition, BOPA recently engaged a local communications firm, Profiles, to represent the agency through the end of 2024, another sign that its leaders expect to be working with the city past June 30.
Graham said in a phone interview that she learned just today that her appointment has been approved and she does not know the status of contract negotiations.
“I’m looking forward to working with the organization,” she said. “We have not had conversations about where the contract stands at this point, but I would take the role with the organization because I believe in both what the organization brings to the city of Baltimore, and I believe in the importance of promoting the arts and cultural community within the city and utilizing it as a tool to attract visitors and also to improve the circumstances of the folks that live in the city.”
A resident of Midtown-Belvedere – “right within the footprint of Artscape” – Graham, 52, will lead a staff of about 20, down from its pre-pandemic levels of more than 40. According to BOPA, she is “a veteran strategic communications and public relations professional with extensive experience in events and tourism marketing, partnerships, policy, and community relations.”
Before joining the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in 2021, Graham served as communications director and public information officer of Family League of Baltimore, a quasi-city agency that annually assists tens of thousands of children, youths, and families living in Baltimore City in gaining access to economic, education and health opportunities. She previously held senior communications roles for the Neighborhoods Partnership Network and Harmony Neighborhood Development in New Orleans and the Greater Houston Partnership, the economic development entity for the 10-county Houston region.
“I am immensely grateful to the search committee, the board of directors and Mayor Scott for placing their faith in my ability to lead BOPA at this critical juncture,” she said in a statement. “Arts and culture — as an economic engine of Baltimore — has the potential to not only attract visitors from around the world, but to change the narrative that some hold about this beautifully diverse community, while also serving as a catalyst to improve outcomes for all residents who call Charm City home. We can — at once — shift perception and reality by ensuring that the opportunity for full, equitable participation in the cultural economy for all Baltimoreans is within reach. I believe BOPA must play a leading role in this shift, and I welcome the opportunity to serve with the board, staff, our elected leaders, and community stakeholders as we move forward together.”
