BETHESDA, MD: Imagination Stage has named Joanne Seelig Lamparter their chief artistic programming officer. She will take over from founding artistic director Janet Stanford, who will retire on May 31.
“Joanne is a dedicated and trusted leader in our arts community with a profound love of all children,” Stanford said in a statement. “She has the vision and the skills to take Imagination Stage youth development programming to new heights. The organization is lucky to have her and so are our young people.”
Seelig Lamparter joined Imagination Stage in 2014 as artistic director for education and Theatre for Change. She leads the organization’s school and community partnerships and training programs and has produced and overseen the development of three new plays under Theatre for Change. An arts educator with over 20 years of experience, she has worked with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the National Building Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and has served as a research assistant with Harvard University’s Project Zero. She is a board member of TYA/USA and a global connectivity task force member for theatre with Theatre Communications Group. She currently serves as a theatre education advisor for the PBSKids series Pinkalicious and the upcoming series Acoustic Rooster. Seelig Lamparter holds a masters in arts education from Harvard and a BA from Washington University.
“As a former student, educator, and administrator of Imagination Stage, I am humbled and excited to carry forward the enormous legacy of founder Bonnie Fogel and Stanford,” Seelig Lamparter said in a statement. “We will continue to produce high-quality artistic, education, and social justice work to ensure that children have the opportunity to discover their voice and identity through the performing arts.”
Imagination Stage will now conduct a search to replace managing director Jason Najjoum, who has left the theatre to pursue new endeavors.
Imagination Stage is a leader in youth development through the arts and is driven to build a generation of collaborative, compassionate young people who are capable of changing the world. The theatre serves children through Montgomery County, Md. and Washington, D.C. through shows, classes, and camps, as well as school partnerships. As of 2022, the theatre had a budget of approximately $4.8 million.
