Courtesy of Michelle Hayford
This summer, Michelle Hayford was hired as the new executive director of Arts NC State. She has a diverse background in academics and performance and brings an exciting new vision for the future of the department.
Arts-integrated research serves as the basis of this new direction. This approach recognizes the meaningful connections between fields that don’t typically collaborate and applies them to practical work and research. Through this, programming becomes more interdisciplinary and wide-reaching.
“Arts NC State functioning as a hub for arts-integrated research will allow us to reach even more students who, without that tie to research that they’re doing, wouldn’t otherwise engage in the arts,” Hayford said.
Originally from Los Angeles, Hayford went to UC Santa Cruz for her undergraduate degrees in theater and women’s studies. She directed ensemble theater in a women’s performance group and was involved with a variety of queer performance art.
Hayford then attended Northwestern University, where she quickly discovered the topic of her Ph.D. dissertation: The Chicago Kings. The mostly-female performance group staged shows with elaborate costumes, choreography and ensemble pieces, all in drag. Hayford joined the group as a performer and ethnographer, interviewing and documenting the social and cultural aspects of the space while also contributing to them.
After graduating from Northwestern, she entered the world of academia, working at several universities in teaching and arts administration. Most recently, Hayford worked at the University of Dayton for a decade as a professor and the director of the Theatre, Dance and Performance Technology Program.
Now, Hayford is at NC State working in solely an administrative role. She said she was drawn here because of the diversity of the programming and the lack of barriers surrounding art.
“I really appreciate that arts are for everyone here,” Hayford said. “That’s always been valuable for me.”
Hayford’s new jurisdiction as director of Arts NC State spans four units: University Theater, The Gregg Museum, The Crafts Center and NC State LIVE. Currently, they each function as their own departments with separate programming and schedules. In the future, she hopes to make the units less isolated and bring more opportunities to campus for students and community members.
“We’re also thinking, how do we not only collaborate among the units, but also with other stakeholders on campus — the faculty, the staff and in the community,” Hayford said.
In addition to more collaborative programming, Arts NC State hopes to implement arts-integration for use in research and problem-solving. According to Hayford, they are pushing to find out what kind of work is possible with the right support and funding.
“If we are able to do a cross-cutting, thematic approach to programming, the visibility and impact is only heightened, right?” Hayford said. “Then you have students who are engaging in all four units in interesting ways. The exchange among the units will be stronger, and we’ll work together better.”
There is already scheduled programming that integrates the arts with traditionally scientific fields. NC State LIVE is hosting a week-long event called “InterweaveFest” starting Oct. 10, which centers around a performance by the aerial dance group “Noli Timere.” They use complex netting in their pieces, which requires collaboration between dancers, weavers, mathematicians and engineers.
Arts NC State is also being awarded the “Organizational Arts Champion Award” from United Arts Wake County United Arts. The department is being recognized on Sept. 16 for its outstanding and continuous work supporting and elevating the arts in North Carolina.
Going forward, Hayford hopes to build on an already impressive legacy of impactful arts programming at NC State to reach even more students and community members.