Laura Rawlings, executive director for the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge, will leave her post next month to take a fundraising position with Roanoke College.

"I'm just absolutely thrilled," said Rawlings, who will start as the college's director of the Roanoke Fund on Dec. 13. Her last day as arts council director is Dec. 1. "Of course I will continue to support our arts community."

"Obviously, we hate to lose Laura," said Phil Sparks, president of the arts council's board of directors. Though the arts council is financially solid, the board is developing a strategic plan to make it "more efficient and effective," he said.

Sparks said the board will choose an interim director next week. Aside from Rawlings, the arts council has one full-time and two part-time employees.

Rawlings was hired three years ago to raise the profile of both the arts council and the arts community. She and Sparks pointed to the annual "40 Days and 40 Nights of Arts and Culture" tourism promotion as an example of that work. She noted that she also re-established grants for regional artists on her watch.

Earlier this month, the arts council teamed with Roanoke Valley Sister Cities and the Roanoke Civic Center to put on a three-day international art exhibit, "Artview: Visions & Voices."

Rawlings said it's an exciting time for arts in the region and that she hopes the arts council will continue to play a central role. "That's the beauty of a local arts council, we can bend and sway and be what the arts community needs us to be."