Behind the Scenes: Emory Arts Staff
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in Emory's arts departments, programs, and divisions? Here we take a look a closer look at some of the key staff members who make the public programs possible.
Elizabeth Hornor | Julie Delliquanti | Anne Walker | Jessica Moore | Matt Williamson
Becky Herring | Mary Catherine Johnson | Hunter Hanger
Elizabeth Hornor, Director of Education, Michael C. Carlos Museum
As Director of Education for the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Elizabeth Hornor works with Museum curators and staff, Emory faculty, and colleagues at other arts organizations in Atlanta to develop innovative and engaging educational programs for a variety of audiences, from K-12 students and teachers, to Emory students and the Atlanta community. Among the many highlights of her time at Emory, Hornor says that collaborating with the Schwartz Center, the Atlanta Opera, and Emory Professor of Hebrew and Middle Eastern Studies Shalom Goldman to present Philip Glass’ Akhnaten in conjunction with the Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharoahs exhibition was extremely rewarding. Hornor was also an integral part in the development of Carlos Conversations, a series of podcasts that bring together Emory faculty members from different departments to discuss objects in the Museum’s collections, which were voted "Best Use of New Technology for Exploring Ancient Ideas" in the 2008 "Best of Atlanta" issue of Atlanta Magazine. Hornor “love[s] working with Emory faculty members who are such tremendously good teachers, and so willing to share their time and their expertise with larger audiences.”
Julie Delliquanti, Director, Schatten Gallery & Associate Curator of Library Exhibitions
For Julie Delliquanti, Director of the Schatten Gallery in the Robert W. Woodruff Library and Associate Curator of Library Exhibitions, every exhibition brings an extraordinary and memorable experience. However, walking through the exhibitions with Alice Walker and Rudolph Byrd is at the top of her list. “My work involves interpreting the research and vision of someone else but for the Alice Walker show I was also visually translating the life of a living author. I was a bit nervous, but hopeful that she would be pleased with the outcome. We spent two hours walking through the show and it was delightful to see her reactions to the selections of items and the aesthetic choices we made with the presentation.” Delliquanti manages and develops exhibitions for six different spaces in the Schatten Gallery and the Manuscript, Archive, & Rare Books Library (MARBL) Gallery. She collaborates with curators, faculty, and graduate students who provide the scholarly research and intellectual foundation of the exhibitions, and interprets their work into an interactive narrative that provides multiple points of entry to our amazing collections. Due to preservation concerns in displaying materials, some of the documents and all of the photographs on display are facsimiles or reproductions. Delliquanti and her collaborators take great care to ensure that visitors have an authentic experience and are unable to differentiate between original items and reproductions.
Anne Walker, Office Manager, Emory Dance Program
As the Office Manager for the Dance Program in the Department of Theater and Dance, Anne Walker is responsible for everything from designing publicity materials, managing the website and Facebook page, and writing/managing the program’s blog to assisting and answering questions from the 800 students that take dance classes each semester at Emory. She is also in charge of managing the program’s budget and coordinating fundraising initiatives for the Friends of Dance. Despite her busy job, Walker says that she enjoys working in such a creative environment: “Faculty members often work on bits of choreography in the office, in front of my desk. That’s not something you see every day, and I’m lucky enough to see it frequently. It makes my job come alive, shall we say.” She’s even tried her hand at some dance classes! In her five years with the Dance Program, Walker says that she most enjoys the creative aspects of her job, like working on the website and designing publicity materials, as well as meeting both current and prospective students and attending all of the dance concerts.
Jessica Moore, Communications Coordinator, Center for Creativity & Arts
As Communications Coordinator for the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts, Jessica Moore handles a variety of responsibilities from writing news releases to updating websites, all with the aim to keep the Emory and Atlanta communities aware of the approximately 300 events presented by Emory’s arts departments and programs in a given academic year. Some of her job duties involve maintaining and distributing extensive event calendars, responding to media inquiries, writing articles and planning the season’s arts coverage for the Emory Report, updating the Arts at Emory website, designing and sending out emails to the Arts at Emory email subscribers, creating fliers and other promotional materials, and much more. Moore also regularly represents the Arts at Emory at monthly marketing roundtable meetings hosted by Atlanta Planit (www.atlantaplanit.com) in which marketing and communications staff members from Atlanta arts organizations gather to share best practices and develop community collaborations. “The sheer quantity and diversity of the arts programming presented at Emory, not only from touring guest artists, but also from our own students and faculty who are continually developing new works, really sets us apart from other arts organizations in Atlanta,” says Moore. In fact, one of the favorite parts of her job is staying in constant communication with all of the various departments or programs and being among the first to find out about what projects or performances are in store.
Matt Williamson, Technical Coordinator, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Matt Williamson is no stranger to multi-tasking. As the Technical Coordinator for Emerson Concert Hall in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Williamson handles all of the sound, lighting, and video requirements for approximately 150 events each season. Whether an international touring artist, regional act, music department faculty, or student recitals, each event brings its own specific set of technical requirements that he must manage and implement. “It would probably be most surprising to a patron just how many hats I wear for any given event. They may see me in the concert hall at the soundboard controlling the microphones on stage and not realize that at the same time I’m web streaming the event, recording it for radio broadcast, controlling the lights, and managing the video projection,” says Williamson. Not only does each new concert bring a new set of challenges, but Williamson must also keep abreast of the rapidly changing technology in order to meet the needs of the artists. While Williamson cites the construction and opening of the Schwartz Center as a highlight of his time at Emory, what he likes most about his work is the opportunity to collaborate with some of the most talented musicians in the world and help present their artistic vision on the stage.
Becky Herring, Arts Associate, Creativity: Art and Innovation
As the Arts Associate for the Center for Creativity & Arts, Becky Herring coordinates special projects for Emory University’s Creativity: Art and Innovation (CAI) strategic framing principle, assisting in the marketing, communications, event planning, and programming for CAI sponsored events such as the Creativity Conversation series, Emory’s Evolving Arts New Works Festival, the Robert Spano Distinguished Artist Residency, and other innovative pursuits. A highlight of Herring’s time as a staff member at Emory was her involvement in the coordination of the first year of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Music Director Robert Spano’s three-year Emory Distinguished Artist Residency. “Witnessing Maestro Spano teaching, working, and performing at Emory was very rewarding because of my involvement in the details. He is an extraordinary man and Emory’s recognition of his numerous talents gives hope for future residencies such as this one,” says Herring. She notes that what she appreciates most about her job is the abundance of creativity and artistic vision she sees from the Emory staff and faculty whether it be through performance, writing, designing, acting, and more.
Mary Catherine Johnson, Assistant Director, Visual Arts Department & Gallery
Mary Catherine Johnson divides her time between the Visual Arts Department, which includes oversight of the studio art undergraduate curriculum, and the Visual Arts Gallery, which entails working closely with artists, scholars, donors, and a curatorial committee toward the planning and implementation of exhibitions, lectures, and special events that fulfill the mission to engage significant issues through contemporary visual art. The Visual Arts Gallery is funded entirely through grants, co-sponsorships, and individual donations, so Johnson is focusing a lot of time this summer on the cultivation of individual, corporate, and foundation partners who can provide resources and audiences for both the department and gallery. Johnson also serves as co-chair of the University's Public Art Committee, which provides direction and expertise toward the acquisition and maintenance of outdoor works of art for the Emory campus through tasks such as conceptualizing a strategic plan for the acquisition of a world-class outdoor art collection that will make a substantial contribution to Emory's position as a destination university, to more hands-on tasks like scrubbing debris off the surface of Sol LeWitt's Tower One next to White Hall. One of the highlights of her work at Emory is the coordination of a major public art commission with renowned photographer Dawoud Bey that will communicate Emory's diversity through portraits of staff, faculty, and students. “When I decided to undertake this project, I knew it would be a lot of work beyond my normal job duties, and that the final product would likely be a sufficient reward for my efforts. However, I never would have predicted what a tremendous impact the creative process of this project would have on me personally, and on my investment in the arts at Emory,” says Johnson.
Hunter Hanger, Program Coordinator, Theater Emory
There is a lot of work that goes into the production of a single theater show, but imagine having to put together an entire season of performances! As the Program Coordinator at Theater Emory, Hunter Hanger assists Managing Director Rosalind Staib and Artistic Director John Ammerman in undertaking such a feat. His duties range from facilitating the hiring and paying of actors, designers, and directors to organizing special events, coordinating guest actors’ travel and accommodation details, and the marketing of the shows. Sometimes, Hanger even gets called to fill in for an actor: “A student had to drop out of Oklahoma!, so I got a call from my boss asking if I wanted to be a cowboy in the show! I immediately jumped into rehearsals where I was singing, dancing, and roping (unfortunately roping very badly). I hope that the audience could see just how much fun we were having onstage!” Hanger cites the fun atmosphere of Theater Emory as one of the highlights of his job. “Often times the backstage of a theater is filled with drama (imagine that?!)...a whole mess of strong personalities that hinder the production of the work,” says Hanger. “This isn’t the case at Theater Emory and the Theater Studies department. Everyone is working together to create the best product onstage.” Watching and participating in the process of developing a new work is another perk of the job: “Hominid, for example, a show produced with Out Of Hand Theater based on the chimpanzee research of Frans de Waal, was one of the most beautiful, elegant, and fascinating shows that I have ever seen. In a very small way, I helped in the process of making that show a reality.”
Edited by Jessica Moore
Communications Coordinator
Arts at Emory
