women in art
Arts Alliance board members are, from left, Margarita Moldovan, Kitty Garrison,Sue Haggerty, Joan Compton, Dorota Lato and Linda Johnson. Not pictured: Gail Hisle.
Arts Alliance of Johns Creek says art matters Goal to make city center for art, music, dance, theater
Arts Alliance of Johns Creek Johns Creek Arts Center has since 1996 provided quality art classes, workshops and camps. Its mission is to inspire artistic development for youth and adults. 6290 Abbotts Bridge Road, Bldg. 700 • 770-623-8448
STORY & PHOTOS By HATCHER HURD
hatcher@northsidewoman.com
B
efore there was a city of Johns Creek, there were the arts in Johns Creek. Dance, fine art, music and theater not only stimulate the mind but help create an awareness of place that is Johns Creek. With the city’s incorporation, the arts have continued to grow – nurtured by seven women who have set as a mission to promote all of the visual, performing and cultural arts to raise the quality of life in the Johns Creek area. The seven women who came together to create the Arts Alliance of Johns Creek are already full-time administrators of their individual nonprofit arts organizations with all the headaches and responsibilities that they entail. They are: • Sue Haggerty, executive director of the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, • Kitty Garrison, executive director of Atlanta Dance Theater, • Margarita Moldovan, artistic director of Performing Arts North, • Dorota Lato, president and founder of Chopin Society of Atlanta, • Gail Hisle, executive director of the Johns Creek Art Center, • Joan Compton, Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center Board vice president, • Linda Johnson, founder and president of Johns Creek Beautification Inc. These women are the backbone of the organizations that are raising arts consciousness in the community. Five years ago, these ladies came together to form the Arts Alliance and play off the synergies that would create a common identity for the Johns Creek area as a center for the arts. “There was a flurry of meetings, ideas and action to make this come together,” 12 | northsidewoman.com | may2013
said the JC Symphony’s Haggerty who also chairs the Arts Alliance. “Everybody is already so busy running a viable organization. But we see opportunities that will allow all arts organizations to become stronger.” Garrison of Atlanta Dance Theater agrees. It is a way to promote all the arts, she said. That led to the Arts Alliance Village with all of the arts under one tent at Arts on the Creek last year. “As we grow stronger together, the more visibility we have – and the louder our voice becomes,” said Chopin Society’s Lato. Another catalyst for the arts, the Alliance Board, has been the emergence of the Verizon Amphitheatre, which gives all of North Fulton legitimacy as an arts center. “But that still points to a big hole for all of us. We need a performing arts center, we all need a venue,” said Moldovan, of Performing Arts North. Nevertheless, the Arts Alliance has become a force in the community. The board members, all women, were asked why that was so? Moldovan said it is that nurturing instinct that continues on even after the children go on to college. “Women roll up their sleeves when a job needs doing. It’s a PTA thing,” said Haggerty. The arts are a male-dominated field. But the organizations that support them are driven by “amazing women who do a lot with a little money, and do it quickly,” said Haggerty. Meanwhile, these ladies continue to hunt around for venues and scrape for nickels and dimes to keep the lights turned on and the tickets printed. They're driven to succeed. “This is our legacy. That is our motivation for doing this,” said Johnson of Johns Creek Beautification. ■
Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra
brings a variety of the best symphonic music performed at the highest possible professional level to Johns Creek. Since its inaugural season in 2007, the orchestra has presented four concerts per season with an ensemble of 45 professional musicians from the metro Atlanta. 678-748-5802 • info@johnscreeksymphony.org
The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve
and Heritage Center has 46 acres of woodlands and trails. It serves the community as a cultural resource with historic buildings, heritage gardens, Native American dwellings, an oral history project and research into past area inhabitants. Programming includes art and heritage exhibits, classes and festivals. 9770 Autrey Mill Road • 678-366-3511 • autreymill@bellsouth.net
North Atlanta Dance Theatre was founded in
1998 by Michael and Kitty Garrison. It has since expanded into a semi-professional organization by utilizing the services of guest artists and with the development of a professional freelance resident artist program. NADT presents two performances a year – “The Nutcracker” in December and a spring performance. 10960 State Bridge Road • 770-772-8000 • northatlantad658@bellsouth.net
Performing Arts North is a collection of theater companies (The Shakespeare Studio, Curtain Climbers and the MAN Presents) dedicated to bringing professional theater and art to metro Atlanta. It also offers classes in directing, lighting, costuming, sound, stage management, house management, set design and makeup. 10945 State Bridge Road, Suite 401293 • 770-781-4534 Admin@PerformingArtsNorth.org
The Chopin Society of Atlanta was established in
2000 as a nonprofit for the promotion of music, culture and the arts in metro Atlanta. Its goal is to generate understanding and appreciation of Frederick Chopin’s music and its influence on piano performance and compositions. 404-245-6133 • info@chopinatlanta.org
John Creek Beautification is a nonprofit
dedicated to enhancing and preserving the natural beauty in the city’s common areas and public space through landscaping installations, environmental preservation and public works of art. 5805 State Bridge Road, Suite G-99 • ourboard@johnscreekbeautification.org