Karen L. Farber

Karen Farber is Executive Director of the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, where she oversees all aspects of the center’s artistic, scholarly, and administrative operations. Farber’s 16 year career in arts administration has included positions at organizations throughout the U.S. including Houston Grand Opera (TX), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), the 92^nd Street Y (NY), and International Production Associates (NY). She was a 2002-3 Fellow in the DeVos Center for Arts Management at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and currently serves on several advisory boards including The Catastrophic Theatre, Houston Cinema Arts Society, and the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH). She has been a member of many other boards and committees for organizations including Fresh Arts, Discovery Green Park, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and Houston Arts Alliance. Her service to the University of Houston includes membership on the System Wide Art Acquisition Committee, the Honors College Society of Fellows, and the Bauer College Business mentorship program of the National Association of Women MBAs. She has been a consultant for Creative Capital Foundation and has served on grant panels for organizations including the MAP Fund and the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division. Farber is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an M.A. in Performance Studies and a B.F.A. in Experimental Theater.

Pia Agrawal

Pia Agrawal joined the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts as Program Director in August 2014 where she ensures the success of the center’s public programming including the Mitchell Artist Lecture, the annual CounterCurrent Festival, and activities relating to the Mitchell Center Artists-in-Residence program. Prior to her work at the Mitchell Center, she served as the Managing Director of the Rude Mechs (Austin, TX) and as Programming Director of FringeArts (Philadelphia, PA). She has also freelanced as an event planner for nonprofits including the Austin Film Society and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On top of her full-time pursuits, Ms. Agrawal works with young, independent theater and dance artists on fundraising, tour management and publicity. She has served on grant panels for organizations including the the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division (2014), Fusebox Festival (2013), the MAP Fund (2013) and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (2010). Ms. Agrawal is a graduate of Haverford College with a B.A. in sociology and economics.

Lacy M. Johnson

Lacy M. Johnson joined the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts as Director of Academic Initiatives in June 2013. In this role she oversees the IART (Interdisciplinary Art) curriculum, the Innovation Grants program, and works to deepen connections between the Center, its programs, and the UH community. Before earning the PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from UH, Dr. Johnson worked as a cashier at WalMart, sold steaks door-to-door, and puppeteered with a traveling children’s museum. Since 2000 she has worked in higher education as an instructor and program administrator, serving most recently as Assistant Director of the Graduate Writing Program at University of Kansas. She has taught interdisciplinary writing workshops for K-12 teachers, aspiring writers, and pediatric cancer patients. As a writer and digital artist, she has been awarded fellowships for her creative and critical work from the Houston Arts Alliance, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, the Kansas Arts Commission, Inprint, the Mitchell Center for the Arts, and Millay Colony for the Arts. She is the author of THE OTHER SIDE, forthcoming from Tin House Books (2014), and Trespasses: A Memoir (University of Iowa Press, 2012). She is co-artistic director of the forthcoming multimedia project [the invisible city].

Nicole Laurent Romano

Nicole Laurent Romano, Director of External Relations, started working with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts in April 2010. Previously, Ms. Romano was Director of Architecture Center Houston, the office of the American Institute of Architects Houston and Project Manager in Civic Art & Design at the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA), previously known as the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California M.A. in Public Art Studies, and Colby College with a B.A. in Art History and Painting with a minor in Education. Ms. Romano serves as Chair of the board of Lawndale Art Center, is a founding member of the Artadia Houston Council, a member of Artable, and a Steering Committee member of Houston Preservation’s Pier & Beam.

Lanna M. Morris

Lanna M. Morris serves as the Administrative Coordinator for the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. In this capacity, Lanna is the go to person for the day to day operations of the office, maintaining contracts, payments and keeping track of the Center’s finances. Having worked in the arts as a child and in her youth, she is eager and excited to be working in the arts again. She has previously worked with University of Houston’s Department of Mathematics, Hilton College, and School of Pharmacy. Lanna holds a B.S. from Lamar University, where she studied Family Studies. She also holds a Doctorate in Chiropractic and a B.S. in Biology from Texas Chiropractic College.