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The Sundance Institute's highest-ranking executive in Utah — with the exception of founder Robert Redford — is leaving.
Sarah Pearce, the arts nonprofit's managing director, is departing after 17 years with the institute, Sundance executive director Keri Putnam told staff Tuesday.
In a staff memo, Putnam lauded Pearce's "supportive leadership, passion for finding solutions, dedication to the institute's mission and commitment to doing what's right."
Pearce's last day at Sundance will be March 10. Putnam said Pearce will be involved as a consultant to ensure a smooth transition over the next several months.
Betsy Wallace, Sundance's chief financial officer, will add the managing director role to her duties. A new director of operations, overseeing both the Sundance Film Festival and the Institute's lab programs, will be hired.
Pearce, who grew up in Holladay, started at Sundance when her sister Virginia, who was running the festival's volunteer corps (and is now director of the Utah Film Commission), asked her to manage the music cafe. Sarah Pearce later was hired full time to oversee Sundance's Utah office's move from Salt Lake City to Park City. She spent several years as director of operations, and took the managing director job in January 2013.
The Tribune's Ellen Fagg Weist profiled the Pearce sisters last month.