Great news for the national arts scene: Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation’s Miami program director and a longtime arts advocate and philanthropist, will head up Knight’s new national cultural arts efforts. Dennis was just named vice president/arts for Knight Foundation. He’ll work with arts leaders in different communities around the country where the Knight brothers owned newspapers ‘ from Detroit, Akron, Charlotte and Philadelphia to Macon, Miami, San Jose and St. Paul ‘ to promote the arts and find innovative cultural programs that enrich people’s lives. He has already has helped transform the South Florida arts scene with Miami’s Knight Arts Challenge, $40 million initiative that aims to unite the region through the arts (finalists will be named in May in the contest’s third round).

With one of the top contemporary art collections in the US and experience leading local and national philanthropic efforts in the visual arts, Dennis’s passion and energy for the arts makes him particularly well-suited for his new post at Knight. He has also ventured into the role of creator as writer and co-producer of a short film, Sunday’s Best, which was just shown at the Aspen Shortsfest 2010. Besides his broad involvement in the arts, Dennis co-founded Betts & Scholl, an international wine venture, and has practiced law, worked as a CPA and restored Art Deco properties on South Beach. We at Knight are looking forward to continuing to transform communities with Dennis’s leadership.