TAC Board of Directors Announce New ED

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Dr. Erinn Gavaghan will take the helm as The Arts Center’s new Executive Director effective July 1, 2024.  Gavaghan hails from Norman, Oklahoma, where she served as Executive Director of the Norman Arts Council from 2010 to 2024.  Gavaghan will serve as The Arts Center’s 20th Director.

Gavaghan received her Ph.D. from the School of Visual Arts, Art History, at the University Oklahoma in 2023. Her Dissertation was entitled Willette, Steinlen, and the Interiors and Exteriors of Montmartre.  Gavaghan’s extensive experience in arts administration includes curating a broad range of exhibits promoting cultural diversity and juxtaposing Norman, Oklahoma with exhibits in France and across Europe. Additionally, Gavaghan has served as faculty in the Arts Management and Entrepreneurship Masters of Art program at the University of Oklahoma.

Originally from Maine, Gavaghan has strong family connections in Oregon and is eager to begin applying her myriad skills in arts administration to the growth of outreach and programs at the Corvallis Arts Center.  She and her husband, JD Merryweather, are excited about all the Willamette Valley has to offer artists and purveyors of mushrooms and wine. 

In her tenure at the Norman Arts Council, Gavaghan led the organization in major expansions of funding for artists and arts organizations through granting programs as well as growing a public art program from a modest budget to one that has invested more than $1.5 million in large commissions by artists from all over the world. Curating and managing the contemporary art gallery, MAINSITE, has been one of her biggest joys and accomplishments in Norman.

“I am eager to bring my vast knowledge of arts administration and creativity to the community of Corvallis where the arts are already deeply ingrained in the quality of life,”

Erinn Gavaghan

Photo Credit: Shevaun Williams