MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts is a statewide collaboration of artists, arts organizations, museums, and libraries to present thousands of performances, exhibitions, festivals, film screenings, and readings by, for, or about children and the arts.
- Participation is open to all artists, arts organizations, museums, and libraries in Virginia
- Arts and cultural organizations present their Children and the Arts programs as part of their regular seasons, thereby incurring no additional costs for participating
- MINDS WIDE OPEN is collaboration, not a separate organization. Virginians for the Arts is the fiscal agent for the initiative
- The planning team - Susan Hirschbiel of Virginia Beach, Elizabeth Murphy of the Fairfax Symphony, Phil Whiteway of Theater IV and Barksdale Theatre, David Fisk of the Richmond Symphony, Russell P. Allen of Virginia Opera and Peggy Baggett of the Virginia Commission for the Arts - are raising money for the statewide marketing campaign.
- Katie Shubert is the Communication Specialist for Virginia Opera and will serve as the Statewide Coordinator.
- All ten living First Ladies of Virginia are serving as honorary chairs
Regional Coordinators
Area 1
Robyn Raines • Abingdon • 276.628.3522
campaign@bartertheatre.com
Danielle Goodrich • Abingdon • 276.619.3335
dirofmarketing@bartertheatre.com
Area 2
James River Council for the Arts and Humanities
Point of Contact • David Neumeyer • Lynchburg • 434.238.2222
david.neumeyer@gmail.com
Area 3
Amy Wratchford • Staunton
amy@americanshakespearecenter.com
Beth Pline • Roanoke • 540.343.6221
beth.pline@rso.com
Amy Moorefield • Roanoke • 540.362.6694
amoorefield@hollins.edu
Area 4
Julie Booth • Lorton • 703.584.2923
juliebooth@lortonarts.org
Beth Temple • Alexandria • 703-836-5120
bethtemple2002@yahoo.com
Jo Hodgin • Vienna
joh@wolftrap.org
Rose O'Donnell • Alexandria • 703-683-1780
roseo@theartleague.org
Sara Strehle Duke • Arlington • 703.795.4765
sara.duke@encorestage.org
Valerie Lloyd• Loudoun County
valsstudio@comcast.net
Area 5
Sarah Lawson • Charlottesville
info@charlottesvillearts.org
Heidi Rugg • Richmond • 804.358.3377
heidi@barefootpuppets.com
Suzanne Mallory-Parker • Richmond
Suzanne.mparker@richmondcenterstage.com
Ana Ines King • Richmond • 804.379.2555
latinballet@latinballet.com
Erin Thomas-Foley • Richmond
EThomas@sparconline.org
Ryan T. Ripperton • Richmond • 804.353.3393
rripperton@sparconline.org
Teka Phan • Richmond • 804.788.4717
tphan@richmondsymphony.com
Area 6
Luci Cochran • Hampton History Muesum
lcochran@hampton.gov
Debra Thorpe • Norfolk
dthorpe@gsarts.net
Michelle Shultz • Norfolk
edppclc@gmail.com