Contributed.
Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities welcomes a new Executive Director, Katie Wyatt, a visionary executive, an accomplished musician, an innovator in social change, and a national leader in creating arts programs for access and opportunity.
“Katie is no stranger to Weymouth,” says Ashley Van Camp, the new President of Friends of Weymouth, “She sat on our Board of Directors for a year prior to stepping into the Interim Operational Oversight role–a position she’s been engaged in since February of this year.”
“As Weymouth Center enters its 100th Anniversary year in 2022,” adds Van Camp, “We are honored to have Katie’s considerable insight, talent, and inspired leadership helping to guide us.”
For the past 15 years, Ms. Wyatt has consulted in the arts and social change, working with organizations on visioning, strategic planning, impact, developing community partnerships, board development, and program evaluation. Katie was named a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Citizen Artist Fellow, recognizing her work in citizen artistry and community development through the arts.
She co-founded Kidznotes, a Raleigh-Durham nonprofit with a mission to change the life trajectory of underserved children through orchestral training. After that, she became the first President and CEO for El Sistema USA, the national network supporting the U.S. movement of El Sistema, based on the international phenomenon of music for social change founded in Venezuela. During her five-year tenure there she established a new headquarters and research partnership with Duke University, where she also enjoyed teaching “Social Entrepreneurship and the Arts.”
As an accomplished violist, Ms. Wyatt has performed and coached nationally and internationally with major professional opera companies and orchestras and served as an Adjunct Professor of Viola at N.C. State University. She is currently principal violist for The Carolina Philharmonic.
“Katie just hits all the right notes for us,” says Van Camp with a smile. “We’re excited to enter our next 100 years with her at the helm.”
Katie Wyatt lives in Southern Pines with her husband, Dr. Aaron Vandermeer, Chair and Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at UNCP, their daughter Petra, and their dog, Bear.
