Meet Our Team

This team values honesty, integrity and respect. We work to leverage the power of the arts to improve lives and the community. 

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Kelsey Ritchie

Co-Executive Director
Master of the Universe
Veins run with Margarita Mix
Visual Artist

“‎I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.”
–E. B. White

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LaTia Childers

Co-Executive Director
Where process meets purpose
The reason meetings end on time
Dancer

“Confidently advance in the direction of your dreams... to live the life which you imagined.”
–Henry David Thoreau

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Jenna Viehauser

Education Director / Marketing Manager
Visual Artist
Rocks unusual lipstick colors
The Bee’s Knees
Makes life a little more spooky and we’re here for it

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”
–Rumi

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Amy Wightkin

Paramount Events Director / Executive Assistant
Multi-instrumentalist
Glasses model
Invents her own DQ Blizzard flavors

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
—Maya Angelou

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Katie Stromlund

Retail Manager
Visual Artist
Brings a smile to everyone’s face

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them."
— A.A. Milne

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Terri Bergstrom

Program Assistant
Jewelry Artist
Wonder Woman
Pumpkin Spice Terri

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few.”
—Emily Dickinson

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Pen McVay

Retail Associate / Instructor
Digital Illustrator
Happy little gremlin
Antihero

"Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined."
—Toni Morrison

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Ian Gearhart

Retail Associate
Visual Artist
Born on Friday the 13th
Makes theatre magic

“Halloween is a state of mind, not just a holiday.”

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Sarah Sullivan

Clay Cavern Studio Assistant
Aspiring coloring book designer
Yes, she’s related to John

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”
—Joseph Campbell

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Phallyni Korng-Gorham

Technical Director / House Manager
Office located somewhere in the cornfield
Frequently found talking to ghosts
Nocturnal by nature

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
— Lao Tzu

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Lora Lee Bauer

Paramount Theatre Assistant
Paints in watercolor and acrylics
Desert dry wit
First job ever / last job ever: clean the Paramount
Thinks she is Miley Cyrus

“Explain to me how you having a problem with me is my problem.”
—Dan Pearce

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Alex Marshall

Tech Crew
Grill master
Musician
Student of philosophy

“Everything excellent is as difficult as it is rare”
—Baruch Spinoza

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Janessa Soto

Tech Crew
Really cool piccolo player
Scared of turkeys
Video game enthusiast

"Every rejection, every disappointment has led you to this moment."
—Alpha Waymond

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Kayla Byram

Tech Crew
Fur Mom
Theatre Kid
Daydreamer

“Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”
—Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

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Tricia Adamson

Charitable Gambling Manager
Art spectator
Loves saying ‘yes’ to what life presents!

“… deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as long as you don’t get too picky about what you mean by place. Or perfectly.”
—Brian Andreas

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Gary Gabrielson

Charitable Gambling Assistant
The fixer
Cool as a cucumber

“Well done is better than well said.”
—Benjamin Franklin

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Kate Naatz

Charitable Gambling Assistant
Life enthusiast

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain."
—1 Corinthians 15:10

Austin Area Arts provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.