City taps arts, culture leader

New director Bell to head up new Fayetteville program

FAYETTEVILLE — The city has hired the former communications director for Theatre-Squared to ensure the arts are integrated into city services.

Joanna Sheehan Bell will serve as the city’s arts and culture director. It’s a new position the City Council created in this year’s budget, along with the creation of an arts and culture program. More than $219,000 is included in the budget toward the endeavors.

Bell previously served as director of marketing and communications for Theatre-Squared. The job prompted her to move to Fayetteville five years ago.

Before then, Bell was director of programs for the American Theatre Wing, a New York organization that founded the Tony Awards. She oversaw programs ranging from grants, awards, professional development initiatives, Emmy-nominated media productions and national partnerships, according to a news release from the city.

Bell has a master’s degree in arts administration from Columbia University in New York and a bachelor’s degree in English and theater from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. She hails from Virginia.

The city’s forward-thinking investment in arts and culture is what drew Bell to the area, she said. The city already has strong resources and communal knowledge of the arts, and it will be her role to figure out what individuals and groups need and want to see in the community’s culture, Bell said.

“I think that’s a really exciting place to start from — thinking about how to codify those things and make sure they happen in the most intentional way possible going forward — so art is integrated into the city structure as all of the city services are,” she said.

Bell will lead arts and culture planning for the city and help come up with a master plan that will guide projects and programming, said Alison Jumper, director of parks, natural resources and cultural affairs.

“Fayetteville already has a strong foundation, and we are thrilled to begin building upon it,” Jumper said.

Serving as liaison to the Creative Arkansas Community Hub and Exchange also will be among Bell’s roles. The regional organization helps groups and individuals showcase Northwest Arkansas as a premier destination for the arts.

Bell’s salary is $90,001. She begins work July 24.