by Dan Breen

“I truly believe in the power of arts and the transformative power of arts education. I have witnessed it,” says Hannah Hammond-Hagman, executive director of the Chesterton Art Center.

Hammond-Hagman grew up in Michiana and Valparaiso, Indiana. She was that kid who wanted to be anywhere but here. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Indiana University, she went after a photography Master of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“I was the photo kid that didn’t specialize in photos. I was working with faculty across departments building installments,” she says.

Hammond-Hagman was also the kid who was not going to teach. Her plan was to be a studio artist, but she did end up teaching for three years for the Visual and Performing Arts school in Chicago. After a move to San Francisco, she taught and worked for multiple youth-serving not-for-profits.

“I worked in brilliant after-school programs focused on environment and social justice,” says Hammond-Hagman. “There were empowerment programs for young women and girls using theatre and video to talk about agency.”

Instead of working in the silo of a studio, Hammond-Hagman’s vocation grew through collaboration and community-driven work. In the Bay area she was surrounded by artists thinking and acting through social practice. She saw how art benefited and cultivated community.

“I have never left that,” says Hammond-Hagman.

After seven years as education director at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, Hammond-Hagman took on the executive director role at the Chesterton Art Center. She and the board went to work reimagining the Art Center and how rooms were used to be more accesable. They reorganized positions within the team to become a more effective staff.

“The team has come together. We invested in people and resources,” says Hammond-Hagman. “We expanded to outreach organizations and we are serving people we never have before. For example, we are serving the Boys and Girls Club in their trusted sites.”

Hammond-Hagman’s vision for the Chesterton Art Center is going beyond the walls of the studio to serve the community. Working with the local Kiwanis Club the Art Center established a scholarship program to help more people to participate in a summer arts camps and programs.

“We are looking to work with all kinds of organizations to bring art to more people,” says Hammond-Hagman.

The Chesterton Art Center is also developing free family days where kids can come with their favorite adult, get a tour of the gallery and create art together. The Center runs a program called Teen Art Group (TAG). The students in TAG are proposing a project to the Parks Board to build a community sculpture. The students are learning to take a project from idea to community.

The art center has always championed local and regional artists and has been committed to its mission of “fostering a creative community where anyone from the artistically curious to the emerging or established artist can cultivate, create, connect, and amplify their relationships and artistic practice.”

“These years of the pandemic have taught us what art and culture can do for the community. We opened our eyes to what creative outlets can do to support one another. There were some moments of real lessons. I would hate to see that forgotten,” says Hammond-Hagman. “I think for me the last few years required me to refocus priority and resources. It required figuring out what is the most relevant work I need to do to serve people.”

Link to Chesterton Art Center

Empowering Community - Chesterton Art Center