Margaret Lawrence begins this term as the new director of programming at the Hopkins Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at Dartmouth, and not a moment too soon.
Director of the Hop Lewis Crickard said "Lawrence comes at a crucial time of the year." Normally, the Hop has planned next year's performances by this time, he said.
Lawrence became director of programming at the Hop on Dec. 1, filling a position that had been vacant since Norman Frisch resigned last January, after working at Dartmouth only one year.
The lack of a director delayed the planning for the 1996-1997 academic year, and programming for the next two years is still incomplete.
Lawrence said that she has been rushing to finish the work for next year, because the Hop has lacked a director of programming for almost a year.
Crickard described the situation as a "time crisis to create next year's season."
"Next year and the following year will be her work. However, it is the following year that with reflect her true talent." He added, "Dartmouth is lucky to have her."
Crickard described the search for the new director as "grueling."
"We thought that the search was done last June but our candidate of choice decided to go work at Penn State," Crickard said. "We were back to ground zero."
The search committee, which included Crickard, other members of the faculty, representatives from other departments and Hop staff members, decided to hire what Crickard called a "headhunter."
With the help of Greg Kendal, a headhunter from Connecticut, the committee drafted a new pool of applicants which were "very strong", according to Crickard. The College had their pick of "five or six strong candidates," he said.
The committee narrowed down the list and chose Lawrence as their candidate, he said.
She said she is "excited to be here," and she liked being back in an "academic setting."
She said there will not be any drastic changes to the way the programming at the Hop is managed.
Lawrence said currently she was "learning and meeting people." She said she was especially impressed with the "wonderful people who work here and the wonderful departments."
Lawrence is especially excited about the re-establishment of the Student Advisory Board. She described it as a volunteer organization which will include members from diverse student groups already associated with the Hop.
The board will insure that students know about and have access to the Hop's performances, Lawrence said.
"Student access to the performances is critical," Lawrence said. "This is what the advisory board will do."
Lawrence said she hopes for input from all students and encourages students to come to her with ideas for programming. "You can look for me at all performances," she said.
Lawrence said she could not discuss the current ideas and planning for next year. She said, "We have many ideas but most are still in the planning stages."
She said that next year will be the 25th anniversary of Pilobolus, a modern dance company established at Dartmouth. She said the company has been very successful and next year the group will be coming to Dartmouth to present a new performance at the Hop.
Lawrence is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where she received a dual degree in anthropology and humanities.
After graduating, she worked at U.C. Berkeley as an organizer of performing arts programming.
Lawrence comes to Hanover from the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon, where she served as associate director of programming since 1989. Her duties at the center included curating and programming a multi-genre performance series and developing and overseeing a good arts education program.
