After an internal search conducted at Missouri State University, Craig Amason has been hired as the Associate Director of the Ozarks Program being planned for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the summer of 2023. This is a fixed term, two-year position, beginning Monday, November 15, 2021. 

The Associate Director – Ozarks Folklife Festival assists the Dean of Library Services, in their role as Director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2023 Ozarks project (SFF23OZ), including considerable outreach and collaboration with key Smithsonian personnel, other Ozarks organizations and individuals involved in the project, corporate sponsors, and others, including other cost centers at Missouri State University.

The Associate Director of the SFF 2023 Ozarks project also will work with all of the committees who are planning various facets of the SFF 2023 Ozarks program, including the chairs of the approximately five key themes of the program (e.g., music, crafts, food, immigration, recreation and natural resources), a funding committee, a logistics committee, a media and recording committee, and others as needed. The Associate Director will serve as a key member of the overall core team planning this major national 10-day event, as well as tangential programs in the Ozarks, online, and elsewhere.

Congratulations, Craig!