“Champion of Artists” Awardee Erin Williams
As we lead up to 11th Annual “Artists Under The Dome” Event* and the MALC 2017 “Champion of Artists” Awards on November 8th at the State House, we are highlighting each of the five “Champion of Artists” awardees. This is the second time MALC has given these awards, which will be part of the morning program (10-11am).*
The five “Champion of Artists” awardees for 2017 are:
- State Representative Chris Walsh
- Danielle Legros Georges, Boston’s Poet Laureate
- Ashleigh Gordon, viola and Co-Founder of Castle of our Skins
- Jonathan C. Rappaport, musician, composer, conductor and Executive Director of Arts Learning
- Erin Williams, playwright, theater director, dramaturg, Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester and Executive Director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition
For this blog post we are profiling awardee Erin Williams, playwright, theater director, dramaturg, Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester and Executive Director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition. Erin is a modern day Wonder Woman. She has helped to make the Commonwealth’s second largest city, Worcester, a thriving arts community. She is one of the strongest artists advocates in the Commonwealth today. MALC can always count on her to testify and advocate on the issues MALC deems key.
More about Erin from Creative Minds out loud:
Erin I. Williams is the Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester, MA and the Executive Director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition, the unified voice of the Greater Worcester, MA creative community. The Coalition is a unique public private partnership which shines a spotlight on the creative activity produced in the region and supports creative placemaking through such initiatives as the WOOPass, Worcester Wayfinding signage program and #MakeArtEverywhere campaign and public events such as Out to Lunch Concert Series. With Erin’s leadership, the Worcester Cultural Coalition was presented the Commonwealth Award for Creative Economy Catalyst. In July, 2012 Richard Florida named Worcester as one of the top 20 creative cities in the U.S in The Rise of the Creative Class.
Erin currently serves on Central Massachusetts Creative Economy Network, is a founding board member of MASSCreative, board member of Discover Central.
She was previously employed by the Mass Cultural Council where she provided oversight and technical assistance to 90 local communities in Central MA. She assisted in strategic planning and capacity building efforts for the Communities Department and is a consultant in the area of creative placemaking.
Erin was the founding director and trustee of the 1794 Meetinghouse performing arts and cultural center in New Salem, Massachusetts and the founding director of the Big Small Theater in Philadelphia. She is a playwright, theater director and dramaturg. She holds a Smith Scholar degree, graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College. She also studied as a Theater for Social Change major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Erin is a frequent speaker on the role of arts and culture in community building and is a firm believer that creativity sparks the economy and builds community.
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* More info on 11th Annual “Artists Under The Dome” Event and the MALC 2017 “Champion of Artists” Awards. These events are free and open to the public
Date/Time/Place: Wednesday, November 8th, from 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the State House’s Great Hall, (Boston, MA),
What: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts invites Massachusetts artists working in all disciplines (visual arts, literary, performing, crafts, new media, etc.) to thank them for all they contribute to our state’s economy and quality of life. Massachusetts is the only state in the country to hold such an event. Although not required, those attending are encouraged to register for this free event .
For more information and to register: http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/annualevent.html