UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) will add senior writer/publicist Charles Donelan to its team starting May 16. A&L produces more than 100 public events annually with world-renowned artists and speakers, as well as an array of complementary community outreach and arts education activities.

In this new role, Donelan will apply his experience with arts and entertainment writing and media relations to continue to elevate A&L’s profile locally and nationally.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charles Donelan to the Arts & Lectures team,” said Celesta M. Billeci, Miller McCune executive director. “As a journalist, Charles has been one of our strongest allies. His familiarity with our program and the local arts scene is unparalleled, and we look forward to working with him more closely than ever to shine a light on our events and impact in the community,”

Donelan has been writing about theater, music, dance, education, and the visual arts in Santa Barbara since 2002. He has served as the executive arts editor at the Santa Barbara Independent since 2004. From 2017-20, he created weekly segments on arts and entertainment events in Santa Barbara for KCRW radio. In 2021 he was a finalist for the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant.

“I want to say how grateful I am to Charles for all his years of remarkable work. He has elevated the Independent’s Arts coverage into the position it holds today. It’s been a pleasure and honor to work with him, and I look forward to continuing our relationship in its new form,” said Marianne Partridge, Santa Barbara Independent editor in chief.

As an educator, Donelan taught at Laguna Blanca School from 2004-21 and the UCSB Writing Program from 2001-04. He holds degrees from Yale (B.A.) and Columbia (Ph.D., english and comparative literature). He published the book “Romanticism and Male Fantasy in Lord Byron’s Don Juan: A Marketable Vice” (Macmillan/St. Martins) in 2000.