Meet the new BAC director at reception

Art enthusiasts will get their first chance on Thursday to feel out the man who was hired last month to lead the Brewery Arts Center as the regional nonprofit arts and cultural center gears up to expand its influence in Northern Nevada.

The BAC is hosting a "meet the director" reception Thursday at its gallery on West King Street to give members an idea who John Procaccini, the 29-year music industry veteran the BAC hired last month, is and what he's planning.

The bulk of Procaccini's career has been spent in the event-production business, including running the Upstage Theater on Mallory Way and acting as stage manager for mammoth acts such as Jefferson Airplane and Sammy Hagar.

At the end of the reception, the BAC is hosting a free concert for members featuring Al Stewart, a famed singer-songwriter whose recording and performing career has spanned 40 years.

Procaccini is hoping the two events will also draw in prospective members to experience what the organization is all about and persuade them to join.

"I enjoy that part of the job, actually," Procaccini said. "There's not enough lunches in the day to meet everybody."

The BAC's goal is to increase its 830-person membership by 15 percent this year. A one-year membership to the arts center is $25 for an individual and $40 for a family.

The BAC, which began 28 years ago, hosts all manner of art exhibitions, plays and musical performances, as well as providing a variety of arts classes.

The center, which Procaccini says is poised to expand in terms of numbers and variety of programs, added two employees earlier this year. The group is also in the process of renovating its 300-seat performance hall in the old St. Teresa's church, just across from the historic Carson City Brewing Co. building, which houses BAC's gallery, offices, classrooms, studios and a smaller theater.

The reception is 5:30-7:30 p.m., when the Stewart concert is scheduled to begin.

"We'll have some things going on to unveil or new programs to reveal," Procaccini promised.

n Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.

If you go

What: Reception for John Procaccini, new Brewery Arts Center director

When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St.