Appointments to the Somerville Armory Advisory Board were announced Wednesday by city government to help shape the future of its Armory building at 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, as a community arts and cultural space.
The five names include a leader in local circus performance and education, the executive director of the Arlington International Film Festival and an entrepreneur in event management, ticketing and personal networking.
“The board will play a key role in advising on programming, partnerships and long-term vision as the city advances plans to revitalize the Armory as a multiuse, public hub for arts, culture and community gathering,” the city said.
After opening in 2008 as a privately owned arts building, the Armory was seized by the city in May 2021 when its owners considered adding a business use during the Covid pandemic. The city committed to paying $5 million to those owners – the Saters, of The Middle East nightclub complex in Cambridge’s Central Square – in the eminent domain land taking.
The city was slow to pull together a plan for the building; after a contentious process, one was released last summer that puts in place the five-member advisory board that reports to the mayor. (That may not be the final form of governance. “The city can seek the services of a nonprofit corporation to govern the Armory,” according to the master plan. The advisory board would advise how to do that.)
The city released the names of the inaugural board members in a press release filled with buzzwordy terms (“cultural strategist”; “cultural organizer”; “experiential designer”), complicated constructions (“a creative studio engaging communities through music, film, and live programming”) and unexplained references to businesses, some of which are little known to ordinary Somervillians (Studio Maarten, Common Roots, Finding Bright Studios, Rabbit Rabbit Studio). Somerville said generally that the group includes professionals with “deep experience across creative industries, live events and cultural strategy.”
The advisory board members and their backgrounds, as best it can be discerned, are:
Jaina Cipriano A filmmaker who is executive director of the Arlington International Film Festival and a designer who founded Lowell’s Finding Bright Studios, which specializes in set design for music videos and “immersive spaces.”
Martin Gohary A musician and filmmaker.
Bryan MacAuslan An event producer and musician who owns EventThem, which does event management, planning and production and party equipment rentals, and The Ticket Union, a Medford ticketing manager, and the founder of Common Roots, which holds networking events.
Hester Tittmann The founder and creative director of the bicoastal Rabbit Rabbit Studio, which describes itself on LinkedIn as a consultant and designer for arts and cultural projects.
Ellen Waylonis A circus performer who co-owns and is chief executive for Esh Circus Arts, which holds courses at 44 Park St., Ward 2, and the co-founder of Circus 617. She’s a director, producer and “cultural organizer.”
The board will work with city staff and community stakeholders to “expand access, support local artists and organizations and create a flexible space that reflects the needs of the community today and into the future,” according to the press release.
More about the Armory, including leasing information, is here.
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