The Lawrence Arts Center is honoring its longtime director as plans proceed for hiring a new one.

A public reception will take place March 8 to pay tribute to Ann Evans, who retired at the end of 2007 after 33 years as director of the center.

The event will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Arts Center, 940 N.H.

“We plan for this to be a festive event to celebrate Ann and the sense of community for the arts that she helped create through the Lawrence Arts Center,” says June Jones, the center’s interim executive director.

In addition, the center is establishing the Ann Evans Endowment to provide ongoing support to the Arts Center. Contributions can be made by calling 843-2787 or writing a check to the Arts Center.

Meanwhile, plans to hire Evans’ replacement are progressing. Dan Sabatini, the Lawrence architect who is chairing the search committee, says an advertisement will be placed in national arts outlets by the first of March.

The goal, he says, is for applications to begin being reviewed around the middle of March. He says the public will have a chance to meet finalists in May during a series of events.

Sabatini says he hopes a new executive director will be in place by Aug. 1, which will be the start of the Arts Center’s next fiscal year.

“Our hope is they have a passion for the arts and they have a Kansas connection,” Sabatini says. “They could be anybody. It could be someone here in Lawrence under our nose, or someone who went away for a couple years and decided to come back.”