David Ballard Email & Phone Number

David Ballard began working as an event coordinator for the City of Gainesville in December 2007. Since then, he created several new programs including the Thomas Center Theatre for Young Audiences, the Heart of Florida Asian Festival and, most recently, Jest Fest!, which features world renowned comedy/variety performers. Ballard is perhaps best known for his stewardship of the popular “Free Fridays” concert series which, under his direction, has grown to 32 annual Friday concerts and more than 20,000 in attendance.Ballard also is a noted independent event producer, director and performer as well as a master puppeteer and theatrical artist. He has created and produced programs for such venues as the Smithsonian Institution, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the National Park Service and Walt Disney Productions. Ballard has worked in education as an artist in the schools for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Museum and the Arlington Humanities Program. He taught graduate and undergraduate puppetry classes at Virginia Commonwealth University and served as artistic director of the University’s Cracker-Box Theatre. As the “Fool of Moxie,” Ballard has toured nationally and internationally, performing and directing comedy/variety shows for Medieval and Renaissance festivals, as well as many additional town festivals, parks, museums, universities and performing arts centers. He has performed as a guest artist for the International Bicentennial Heritage Festival at Yorktown National Historic Park and at the International Children’s Festival at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Most recently, he was a guest performer for the Chrysler Corporation’s Family Day Celebration. Ballard is also an accomplished visual artist, having shown and sold his puppet creations that range from hand-made wooden marionettes to giant, walking parade puppet characters. He holds a degree in theatre from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Listed skills include Arts Administration, Festivals, Theatre, Concert Production, and 24 others.

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  The College Of William And Mary

  Theatre