The Stone Quarry Hill Art Park Board of Directors has announced the hiring of Emily Gates Zaengle to the position of executive director. Zaengle assumed the role on Jan. 5 and has already been busy meeting with various community organizations and strategizing for the 2015 summer season at the Art Park, according to a statement on the park website.
“I can’t tell you how thrilled we are,” said SQHAP Board of Directors President John Hunt. “We felt we needed that long-term look at the future, and one of our five-year goals was to get someone in that executive director position and allow them to take the park through our 24th and 25th years and onward – finish out our first quarter century.”
Zaengle holds a bachelor’s degree in design and environmental analysis from Cornell University, a master’s degree in landscape architecture from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a master’s degree in museum studies from Syracuse University.
Her introduction to the art park began with an internship in 2012 and has continued in a volunteer capacity for the past three years.
“She fell in love with the park when she was doing the internship and we fell in love with her, and she’s been working with us in various volunteer capacities ever since,” Hunt said.
In addition to the hiring of Zaengle as the new executive director, the SQHAP directors also promoted interim director and office manager Lesley Owens-Pelton to Art Park operations manager. In her new role, Owens-Pelton will oversee the daily operations of the park while also working to grow its presence in the local and regional community.
Owens-Pelton started at the park in August 2013 as interim director after the departure of former Director Sarah Webster. That six-month position turned into a year, and late last year the board decided it wanted to find the appropriate title and role for her, Hunt said.
“We were blessed to get Leslie Owens [in 2013], who had been working at Caz College. She more than filled that interim role and we were all very impressed with what she does for the park on a day-to-day basis,” Hunt said.
The new management configuration of the art park means that Owens-Pelton will oversee the daily operations and Zaengle will survey the long-term goals and aspirations to take Stone Quarry Hill Art Park to the next level.
“I’m very proud of the board and the work they’ve done on this. It’s been a full board effort, 100 percent. There was a unanimous consensus on this,” Hunt said.
For more information about Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, visit stonequarryhillartpark.org or call 655-3196.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
