Emerging Arts Leaders Symposium
2022-2023
EALS COMMITTEE
AnaMarie Nelson
Executive Director
AnaMarie is a second-year Arts Management Master’s candidate at American University. She received her bachelor’s degree in English and Theatre from the University of Notre Dame and immediately began a career in costume technology. Originally an Iowan, she has since made her home in San Diego and Monterey, CA, Norfolk, VA, and Washington, D.C. Her career working alongside talented designers, performers, and fellow costume technicians from The Old Globe to the Washington National Opera has been incredibly fulfilling and she plans to continue that work. AnaMarie looks forward to taking the next step into management through her time at AU and to continuing to find new and better ways to make art happen.
Sarah Scalet
Co- Director Marketing & Communications
Sarah is a second-year Arts Management Master’s candidate at American University. Raised in the D.C. area, she holds a BA in History and Studio Art (with a focus in sculpture) from Hamilton College. She found her way to arts administration through work experiences at the Brooklyn Public Library system and Gallagher & Associates, a museum design firm. Sarah is currently serving as the Arts in Education Fellow at the National PTA. Pre-pandemic, in her spare time, you would most likely find Sarah exploring new places and working through her vast museum bucket list.
Manxin Luo (Alice）
Co-Director of Marketing and Communications
Manxin Luo (Alice) is a second-year Arts Management candidate at American University. She grew up in Beijing, China and received her B.A in History from Lawrence University of Appleton, Wisconsin. Alice has a background in classical ballet. She is passionate about dancing, teaching, and promoting ballet both as an art form and as a source of empowerment for physical health and community building. Alice is currently working on her Master's Thesis about ballet marketing in the U.S. She also just rediscovered herself as a Christian to follow Jesus for bringing light and love to the world.
Cristina Lopez
Director of Programming & Logistics
Cristina is a second-year Arts Management Student from New Orleans, LA, who received her undergraduate degree in General Music from Loyola University New Orleans. After several years of performing on local stages and a brief stint at Disney World, she became a sales and marketing manager for property management firms across the East Coast. Currently, she is the Music Education Fellow at the Kennedy Center and works in marketing at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. She holds awards in delinquency management, transportation outreach, sales, and in 2021 she received the Valerie Morris Prize from American University. Her desire is to share her love of the classical arts with the Latino/a/e community.
Morgan Fuller
Programming and Logistics Coordinator
​Morgan is a first-year arts management master's candidate at American University. She graduated from undergrad at the University of North Carolina at Asheville with degrees in Theatre and Mass Communication. Upon graduation, she moved to Chicago where she pursued acting. Now, Morgan is excited to explore the management side of art, a passion she was first drawn toward while working for the Spoleto Festival and performing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. When not arts managing, Morgan can be found having fun exploring D.C. and searching for all the great vintage and thrift stores.
Katherine Berman is a second year graduate student at American University in the Arts Management program. She began her dance training at age 4 at the European School of Performing Arts in Daytona Beach, FL. She pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of South Florida studying modern dance. During her senior year, she interned with the School of Theatre and Dance marketing coordinator, Amanda Clark, to conduct research in audience development strategies while at USF. The findings are now set in place as new standards for the department. It was here that Berman discovered the world of arts management and found a second passion. She is currently working with Erica Bondarev Rapach in a fellowship conducting research in community engagement.
Katie Berman
Director of Finance
Allie Roy
Programming and Logistics Coordinator
Allie is a first-year Arts Management Master's candidate at American University. She received her bachelor's degree in Theater, with an emphasis in Stage Management, from UCLA. Immediately after graduation she worked in the Los Angeles regional theater scene. Allie moved to the DMV area almost 8 years ago to continue her stage management career, and has worked at Signature Theatre, Arena Stage, and the Kennedy Center, to name a few. Allie's passion for arts management started while working at the Kennedy Center, and she hopes to explore the world of performing arts centers. When not in class, you can find her working at the Amy Kaslow Gallery.
Deborah Lagin
Finance Coordinator
Deborah Lagin (she/her/hers), a first-year Arts Management Master's candidate, is thrilled to be joining AU Arts Management after working as a Shakespearean actor, teaching artist, and administrator in the SF Bay Area. She received her BA in Drama with Honors in Acting from University of California: Irvine and minored in Comparative Literature.
Lauren Cohen
Programming and Logistics Coordinator
Lauren Cohen, a first-year Arts Management Master's candidate, hails from Baltimore, MD. She received her Bachelors of Art in Music and Spanish from North Carolina Central University. She also obtained a certificate as a Spanish Community Facilitator from Durham Technical Community College. Cohen currently works as a bilingual deputy clerk for The District of Columbia Superior Courts, and has served in this capacity for 4 years. She chose the Arts Management Program at American University to use her combined skillset to promote HBCU band culture on an international level, as she is a former member of an HBCU band program. Cohen is excited about what she can contribute to the program, as well as learn new skills to reach her goal. She lives in Baltimore with her family and her dogs, Diego and Gypsy. Her favorite hobbies are shopping, playing her clarinet, and playing Magic the Gathering with friends.