Jody Ulich, the cultural service director for the City of Tempe, Arizona, will lead the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County beginning January 2, 2008. She succeeds Flora Maria Garcia, who departed her post in October to run an arts advocacy group in Atlanta.

Ulich managed a $5 million dollar annual budget in Tempe, and was able to get a sales tax dedicated to fund a $66 million dollar arts center.  

In her position, she also oversaw the Tempe Performing Arts Center, the Edna Vihel Center for the Arts, the Tempe Historical Museum and the recently constructed 90,000-square-foot Tempe Center for the Arts. She previously served as assistant director of the Phoenix Arts Commission for 10 years.