The International Center for the Arts (ICA) is not yet a well-known institution at SF State. Jeffrey Babcock, the ICA’s new director, has a blank office without a single picture on the wall or trinket on his desk. Despite this, Babcock brings a strong resume to the ICA, and has a well-funded commitment to the arts, artists and SF State’s humanities.

Created in 2005 with a $3 million gift from SF State alumni George and Judy Marcus, the ICA showcases the world’s most progressive artists, and works primarily through the Documentary Film Institute and the College of Creative Arts. The center presents the Marcus Lifetime Achievement Awards, which are three juried prizes worth up to $50,000 – these awards often coincide with a feature of the artist’s work.

“San Francisco is pulsing with artistic energy,” Babcock said. “And we want to tap into that.”

Like most art, Babcock says, the ICA is a work in progress.

“The Center will be a premier artistic and educational resource," he said. "We will be a cultural and educational ambassador.”

Fine arts professor Mark Johnson said the ICA embodies a multi-faceted organization.

“Every spring, the Center sponsors interdisciplinary programs,” he said. “There’s an off-campus and on-campus component.”

Past examples of the ICA’s programs include an Afro-Cuban Jazz festival, which SF State students helped produce. The festival is currently on a national tour.

Hired in January of this year, Babcock is the first full-time director of the ICA. He took over for Keith Morrison, who was then dean of the College of Creative Arts and had served as interim director since 2005. Johnson said that bringing Babcock on board is a reflection of the direction in which SF State is wishing to go.

“The hiring of Jeffery Babcock signals [SF State’s] interest in creating a clearer profile within the community,” said Johnson.

“The Center doesn’t necessarily benefit the students directly,” Johnson said. “But it raises the profile of the university nationally – so it helps students when they go to apply for a job.”

According to Johnson, who is also director of the Fine Arts Gallery, the ICA puts SF State on par with Stanford University's Lively Arts and UC Berkeley's Cal Performances, both of which are prominent academic and community institutions.

“I was impressed with Jeffrey’s resume,” Johnson said. “And very impressed when I heard that he was involved with founding the New World Symphony, which is a renowned organization.”

Babcock has worked as an executor in the arts for over 30 years. He said his work with the ICA parallels his experience with the 1996 Centennial Olympic Arts Festival. In Atlanta, he brought together 125 local organizations, including musicians, composers, dancers and playwrights. These groups produced more than 300 music, dance and theater performances, 35 art exhibits and a gathering of Nobel laureates.

Other credentials for Babcock include general director and chief executive officer of the Boston Ballet and dean of the Boston University College of Fine Arts. Babcock has written an opera, plays the tuba, bass and piano and likes to golf.

It is his interests and experience in the arts that makes Babcock and the ICA a good match.

“Everything is cross-disciplinary,” Babcock said. “We want to bridge academic institutions together that typically exist in cylinders and don’t otherwise communicate with each other. This includes the humanities, but we want to eventually include all of academia.”

The ICA’s next project is “Witness to War,” which includes a Vietnamese contemporary art exhibition at the Fine Arts Gallery from Feb. 17 to March 15. “Witness to War” also features a documentary film festival from March 1 to 4 and includes a preview of Ken Burns’ new epic, “The War.”