Annette Pretorius, Executive Director

Blue Sage Center for the Arts

Stomping Grapes for the Prestige of the Blue Sage

Annette Pretorius grew up in Southern California and moved to Paonia in 2010 at which point she quickly started volunteering at the Blue Sage.  She became the Executive Director in August of 2011 after she got incredibly inspired by the organization’s potential and couldn’t help herself.  Now she enjoys her job a lot and won’t stop working.

What are her qualifications?  Though it is hard to say what really qualifies a person to be the director of a non-profit art center in a rural community, she brings with her a degree in math and plenty of bookkeeping and office administration experience.  In the end, we believe it was her overwhelming dedication to the organization that convinced the Board to hire her.

For the record, she loves all Blue Sage events equally, though she does candidly admit that the Gingerbread Festival has a unique charm on her.  She loves the Blue Sage for being a place that brings the community together and a resource that helps the community’s creatives thrive.  In 2020 she hopes to see the Blue Sage recognized as a crossroads for arts and culture in the North Fork Valley, and used as a community resource by all.

When not at the Blue Sage, Annette enjoys spending time with her family, participating in other community events, tutoring math, and playing the handbells.  She also amuses herself with silly jokes such as:

“Two fish in a tank.  One looks at the other and says, ‘Do you know how to drive this?’”