Richardson City Manager Don Magner announced the appointment of Ally Haynes-Hamblen as executive director for the Eisemann Center. The announcement follows a nationwide search for the position led by Arts Consulting Group (ACG), a leading executive search provider for the arts and culture industry. Haynes-Hamblen will assume her post September 19, just prior to the September 30 retirement of Bruce MacPherson who has served as the center’s managing director since 2000.
Incoming Executive Director, Eisemann Center
“I am excited about the addition of Ally to our team and grateful to Bruce for his tenure of dedicated service to the City, including his leadership in the design and development of the Eisemann Center,” said Magner. “I know that with her tenure of experience at leading cultural organizations throughout the nation, Ally will continue to build on the Eisemann Center’s already outstanding reputation as we look to provide a wealth of cultural offerings to the Richardson community and beyond well into the future.”
In her previous role, Haynes-Hamblen served as director for the City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs, where she managed all performing visual, public art, art education programs and special events programming across six performance venues, three public plazas, eight visual art galleries and two mobile stages. During her tenure in Las Vegas, she established the Office of Cultural Affairs’ inaugural grant program; developed the city’s portfolio of produced art festivals, adding four new events to the annual lineup; and created the department’s Artist in Residence program, which focuses on supporting the continued growth of local artists and arts organizations.
Haynes-Hamblen has also held numerous positions with the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she provided oversight for performing arts programming, production, operations and finance for the performing arts division of the Scottsdale Cultural Council. In addition, she was responsible for the center’s long-range planning and growth strategies and managed the annual three-day Scottsdale Arts Festival.
Haynes-Hamblen also served in various roles for Entertainment Events in New York, where she began her career leading finance, marketing and production for the tours of national theater companies. Throughout her career, she has also demonstrated deep expertise in budget management and revenue generation and growth
Among her many honors, Haynes-Hamblen is a graduate of Leadership Las Vegas and a former Leadership Fellow for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Leadership Fellows Program, Cohort II. She is also a graduate of the International Festival Encounters: Developing Artistic Entrepreneurship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the California Presenters Mentorship at Program at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, California, and the Emerging Leadership Institute at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in New York.
She earned her MBA with honors from Regis University in Denver and her bachelor’s in theatre and mass communications from the University of Denver.
“I am extremely honored and excited to join the Eisemann Center,” Haynes-Hamblen said.
“The Eisemann Center is a premier arts and culture organization in one of our country’s most exciting regions. I look forward to becoming part of the Richardson community and working alongside the team to enhance the center’s offerings well into the future”.”
Recruitment Process
The City of Richardson contracted with ACG to assist in the recruitment for the position. The ACG search process balances qualitative and quantitative data to ensure that candidates possess the skills, experience, and educational requirements to excel in a role and fit an organization’s culture, team, and community.
