Born: 1970 (circa), United States (assumed)
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the National Endowment for the Arts. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Beth Bienvenu is the director of the Office of Accessibility at the National Endowment for the Arts, where she manages the NEA’s technical assistance and advocacy work devoted to making the arts accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people in institutional settings. She provides guidance and support to state arts agency staff and professionals working the fields of arts access, creativity and aging, arts and health, universal design, and arts in corrections.
Prior to coming to the NEA, she worked as a policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), where she analyzed public and private sector policies and practices related to the employment for persons with disabilities. She also served as an adjunct professor for George Mason University’s Master of Arts in Arts Management program, where she taught courses in arts policy and comparative international arts policy, and she has a background in performing arts management. Prior to coming to Washington DC, she worked in public relations for classical and folk musicians, managed a youth chorus, and served as assistant director for the Bloomington Early Music Festival in Bloomington, Indiana.
Bienvenu received her bachelor’s degree in sociology and music from Alma College, master’s degrees in sociology and arts administration from Indiana University, and her PhD in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma.