6/28/19
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. —MCLA alumni Erica Barreto ’18 and J. Cottle ’13 are putting their
arts management degrees to work and have been named to National Arts Strategies’ 2019
Creative Community Fellows New England cohort.
National Arts Strategies, a nonprofit dedicated to the development and training of arts and culture leaders, was established in 1983 with the mission of building and supporting a diverse community of cultural leaders who can drive and inspire future change. Funded by the Barr Foundation, Creative Community Fellows New England works with change-makers across New England to support their major projects, providing professional development opportunities, and more. There are 25 fellows in this year’s New England cohort; nearly 200 have participated in the program in the past five years.
“I am incredibly proud to see two creative, driven, community-minded MCLA graduates on the 2019 Creative Community Fellows New England list,” said MCLA President James F. Birge. “Erica and J. are well-rounded professionals with passion and heart, and they know deeply the power of creative community. I’m looking forward to seeing the good work they’ll put out into the world via this program.”
About the fellows:
Erica Barreto ’18
Erica Barreto is a multicultural educator, administrator, and researcher. As coordinator for the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA-IAH), Barreto’s work focuses on improving access to regional arts and humanities resources, advancing possibilities for engagement with innovative and contemporary experiential learning opportunities, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion both on the MCLA campus and in the greater community. In addition to her work at MCLA, Barreto also advises the Multicultural Alliance, an after-school program for students in grades 6-12 at Berkshire Arts & Technology (BART) Charter Public School. In 2019, the Multicultural Alliance was recognized as the Berkshire Eagle’s “Classroom of the Week” on behalf of students’ commitment to making a difference at BART and in their communities.
J. Cottle ’13
J. Cottle is an educator, arts administrator, musician, writer, and producer. In these roles he has supported the work of Boston Arts Academy, Boston University, 3050 Music Group, the Community Music Center of Boston, Berklee College of Music and currently serves as the founder and Executive Director of Dunamis, and the Young Civic Leaders Coordinator at MassVOTE. J’s work specializes in designing curriculum and Out of School Time (O.S.T) programs that facilitate transformative growth using integrated arts techniques and youth development practices.
For more information, visit www.artstrategies.org.
