Executive Director
Anne B. Pope was named Executive Director of the Tennessee Arts Commission in May 2012. The Commission is the state arts agency dedicated to cultivating the arts in Tennessee for the benefit of all citizens and their communities. Over the past five years, more than 6,450 grants totaling more than $30 million have been invested in communities across Tennessee.
Anne has previously served as federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, where she led a variety of economic and community development initiatives, including asset-based economic development; as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance; and as executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment, and Music Commission. Immediately prior to joining the Tennessee Arts Commission, she was Vice-President of STEM Education, Oak Ridge National Lab and Executive Director of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network.
In the private sector, Anne served as president/CEO of Proffitt’s of the Tri-Cities, Inc., formerly a division of Saks, Inc., and prior to that as president/CEO of the Parks-Belk Company. A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Anne is admitted to practice law in Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
