A Florida administrator has been named as the next leader of a state commission that provides support for the Kansas arts industry.

Curtis Young began work Monday as the director of the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, according to a release from the Kansas Department of Commerce, which oversees the arts initiative.

Young previously was the assistant director and operations manager for the Division of Arts & Culture within the Florida Department of State. Young has two degrees in fine arts, including a master’s from Florida State University, according to the state press release. It also says that Young grew up in a vibrant art community in Tennessee and recognizes the potential for arts as an economic engine.

“Art is hard work,” Young said via the release. “Placing the state arts agency within Commerce shows that the people who do it work, and contribute to our economy and quality of life. The creative arts are truly an industry, and Kansas recognizes that.”

Kansas’ creative arts commission oversees a variety of initiatives that provide support for arts programs across the state, and also works to grow the arts industries via education, community service and workforce development programs.