Behind the Scenes

The International Children’s Festival is the premier international arts education experience in the United States. Since 1971, the Festival has brought hundreds of thousands of area children and their families to Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts to experience new cultures and learn about the significance of the arts in our lives, our community, and throughout the world.

The Arts Council is the recognized voice of the arts in Fairfax County, dedicated to fostering a dynamic and diverse local arts presence and participation.  We ensure that artists and the arts thrive by providing vision, leadership, advocacy, funding, education and capacity building.

In 2008, the Arts Council distributed $620,000 in grants to more than 50 Fairfax County arts organizations and artists, who collectively offered 3,225 events and performances attended by over 1.5 million people; our Creative Arts Programs (CAPs) connected quality arts programs with over 200,000 students and families; and our International Children’s Festival, the premiere international arts education experience in the U.S., drew over 25,000 attendees to Wolf Trap in September including every fifth grade student in Fairfax County Public Schools.

Arts Council Staff

Ann Rodriguez, President & CEO

Ann provides overall leadership for the Arts Council to insure its viability and adherence to its vision, mission and strategic plan.  Ann works closely in partnership with the Board of Directors and Staff to provide leadership, vision and strategic direction for the organization which works to raise awareness, build support and create sustainable funding for the arts in Fairfax County.

Ann joined the Arts Council in 2004 after a long business career in the area.  She has lived and worked in Fairfax County for almost thirty-five years and has a passion for the richness of the arts and the artists who live here.  She considers her job “the best in the world” and is the proud mother of Paco, an artist, who recently moved to the region from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Scott Fridy, Performing Arts Director/ Festival Director

Scott manages Creative Arts Programs (CAPs) and the Video Fairfax program, and is the director of the Arts Council's International Children's Festival.  He also helps oversee the Arts Council's office building, the Fred M. Packard Center which is home to a dozen other arts and civic organizations, and serves as Arts Council liaison with various performing arts initiatives in the community including the Rent Free Use Program with Fairfax County Public Schools and the Theatre Arts Group committee at NOVA-Annandale's Ernst Community Cultural Center.  He has a B.S. in Business/Marketing from Penn State and is a trombonist with several local bands and brass ensembles.

Susanna Rosenbaum, Office Manager

Susanna coordinates the Arts Council's membership program and manages day-to-day office operations. She provides administrative support to Staff and serves Arts Council members, which include hundreds of organizations, individuals, and corporations, by connecting them with Arts Council initiatives and opportunities. Susanna also coordinates the Arts Council's on-going educational seminar series, Building the Arts Community.

Susanna has a B.A. in English and developed her multi-tasking muscles working for international humanitarian organizations, including Hope Corps, a volunteer-sending program working in over twenty-five countries. Off the clock, Susanna enjoys theater, writing, and giving ghost tours in French.

Henrik Sundqvist, Director of Communications, IT & Visual Art

Henrik’s main role at the Arts Council is to define, implement and oversee marketing communications strategies for both electronic and printed communications.  He is the development and design lead for web-based applications, and monitors and manages the organization’s information technology structure. He also manages and monitors key strategies for the visual art scene in Fairfax County.

Henrik has earned two MFAs – from the Fachochschule für Gestaltung in Mannheim Germany and the University of Houston, TX. He has over 13 years of experience in the design industry with a focus on web development. Henrik is also a professional artist, who has exhibited his prints and drawings since 1996 nation wide and is an affiliate of Discover Graphics at the Torpedo Factory.