Des Moines Arts Festival Executive Director Stephen King has helped put together events and concerts since high school. But he never considered that activity as a possible career until he was in graduate school. Before taking up his post here in Des Moines, King worked on festivals in Texas and Virginia. King, who was recently appointed to the International Festivals & Events Association Foundation board of directors, said his top priority is to keep the Des Moines Arts Festival in the “hearts and minds of everyone.”

Well, I originally went to graduate school because I was teaching and I didn’t want to teach seventh-graders anymore. The only way to do that was to get another degree. When I got to New Mexico, I immediately got involved booking concerts and events with the university and doing some outdoor events with them. I drank the Kool-Aid, I guess, and got more involved. We got pregnant, and my wife insisted that we have our child on Texas soil. She had a job at a company that was based in Fort Worth and got transferred there. When I got to Fort Worth, I contacted a woman and I started working for the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival as an intern. From there, I grew within that organization very quickly and ended up becoming vice president and managing director, and within three years of that became the director of the arts festival. After about five or six years of doing that, I moved to Virginia. But I was looking to get out, looking for a new opportunity. I heard my predecessor was retiring, and made an inquiry in March of 2007. So then I came here.

What have you tried to achieve while working for the Des Moines Arts Festival?

First and foremost, my goal is to maintain or to keep the Des Moines Arts Festival in the hearts and minds of everyone. And by that, I mean not only Central Iowa; I mean across the country. I think being in Des Moines, we have to work a little harder to remain relevant on the national stage. And I think we do that really well here; the corporate community is very supportive of the event and the people are obviously very supportive – when we can draw half the population to an event, that’s saying something. My biggest effort with what I do is to really try to maintain the arts festival as an art fair on the national stage, as an organization that is relevant and should remain relevant. We’re doing that to help keep Des Moines on the map and to elevate Des Moines in a way that it’s not in other circles.

Your appointment to an international board probably helps in that respect. What does it mean for Des Moines?

The International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) is really the governing body for festivals worldwide, I mean it is a worldwide association. And then the foundation board helps support the organization and its members; it specifically helps the IFEA achieve its vision and mission by supporting and enabling the events professionals. We are the body that raises the money; we are the body that helps to produce the annual convention and trade show; we are the body that helps to support what the world board needs to do to execute their duties. I’m of the opinion that you can sit on the stands and watch what’s happening and complain about it or applaud it, or you can get in there and effect change and positive growth. I’d rather be in the game than on the sidelines. The last four or five years, at the IFEA convention, the Des Moines Arts Festival name came up a lot. We win an average of 20 to 22 awards every year. So most of the people there know about us, but I think now being able to be on the foundation board, it allows me to represent the arts festival and Central Iowa next to folks who are running the Kentucky Derby, the Portland Rose Festival, you know, some of the bigger festivals across the country.

Do you have any hobbies?

March Madness is one of my favorite times of the year. I really love basketball. I love to go kayaking and to ride my bike. I’ve had kind of a severe neck injury for a while, so I don’t get to trail ride like I used to. I love to hang out with friends, which is a great group of families. We just hang out, have a beer and watch the kids run wild.

I really have a passion for what I do in general. I love art. My house is full of art. For me, it’s probably like someone buying shoes. I see something I like and I buy it because I want it to be a part of my life. Art makes me happy, it makes me smile. I feel good. Every piece to me has a story; there’s a reason why I have it.