BAYarts bids farewell to programming director

Erin Stack with her student, Eva Maile, at their student exhibit at SPACES.

Erin Stack, BAYarts' programming director, has stepped down from her position after a tenure of impressive work.

A graduate of The Art Academy of Cincinnati and Cleveland State, Stack has a fine arts degree with a specialty in arts education. An award-winning art educator for grades K-8, she came to BAYarts with a wealth of experience and loyal following. As program director, Stack created the model for BAYarts' successful art education curriculum, developing diverse and challenging programs and outreach for students pre-K through adult.

She leaves an enduring legacy of robust programs, with standouts such as: Art Academy, Mini Mosaics Preschool Program, campART, Fairy Garden Day (which fills up within mere hours), Girls Camp (ditto), Art Club, and a kids' Holiday Workshop Series. The latest implementation, a series of one-time workshops at night for adults, Date Nights, has also been wildly successful.

"It's been a decade of hard work and dedication," said Stack, "but I leave here knowing that all of our programming is thriving and I feel really good about that."

Stack put an emphasis on the connections she made with the faculty she fostered and the families that made BAYarts art classes their home. "The teachers I've worked with, the parents I've met along the way, and the students I've taught or mentored have meant more to me then I can put into words."

Duly appreciated, BAYarts education assistant Melanie Harlan said, "Erin has inspired so many children and adults in the community through her creativity and passion for the arts."

Comic illustration teacher Jim Giar explained how he was inspired by sharing. "It is not often that in life, you meet a person that alters the course of your own. Erin believed in my ability to become an instructor, when I did not."

Stack's creative life continues as she will have handmade ornaments in the BAYarts Holiday Shop, and organizes The Summer Market in tandem with the charitable organization she co-founded, Girls Give Back.

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Volume 9, Issue 22, Posted 10:53 AM, 11.07.2017