Performing Arts Center Eastside Selects Annie DiMartino As New Education Director

Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE) welcomes Annie DiMartino as the cutting-edge cultural hub's new education director. With over a decade of experience in performance arts, DiMartino will work to develop PACE's art and education programming.

"I am delighted to join the Performing Arts Center Eastside team, here in my hometown of Washington, known as one of the county's great theatre centers," said AnnieDiMartino, education director of PACE. "I have continuously seen the performing arts industry evolve over the past 13 years, and I am honored to be a part of the team during this exciting time. As the education director, I cannot wait to engage the Eastside community and expand the definition of the performing arts."

Before arriving at PACE, DiMartino served as the director of education for Book-It Repertory Theatre, where she oversaw a robust touring season, school residencies, Listen Up Spoken Word Festival and served as a faculty member with BTiC (Bringing Theatre into the Classroom). Over the past four years, she has adapted four touring shows including A Splash of Red, Last Stop on Market Street, as well as Ada's Violin and The Odyssey (both of which she also directed). In addition, DiMartino also served as the adapter and lyricist for Book-It's upcoming Spring touring production of Wordy Birdy.

Previous to her time at Book-It Repertory Theatre, DiMartino spent nearly a decade on the East Coast and held the position of director of education for Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, where she oversaw all educational programming. In her tenure, she started the Shake-it-Up Shakespeare Summer Youth Ensemble, of which she directed the Summer Shows, offered private acting coaching to many students who went on to land roles on Broadway and work in film and television. In addition, she taught year-long courses at Amistad Academy and New Haven's Educational Center for the Arts, as well as facilitated various theatre workshops and Master Classes at several colleges including Southern Connecticut State University, Wesleyan University, and Yale University, to name a few.

Beyond her director of education experience, DiMartino has a vast knowledge of performing arts. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the California State University, Fullerton with an emphasis on acting. Early on, DiMartino performed in and around the Los Angeles and Orange County areas where she was nominated for both an LA Weekly Award and OC Theatre Award for her work in Grasmere wherein, she originated the role of Dorothy Wordsworth, and later reprised the role at numerous leading performance art centers including Off Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York.

In addition, DiMartino has performed professionally in Anton in Show Business with Theatre Four and served as an acting company member with ARTFARM where she appeared in leading roles in The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Shakespeare's Argument, Much Ado About Nothing and King Lear, as well as voiced the role of Destra in the animated film Prodigal Son produced by Gener8tion Entertainment.

"We are thrilled to welcome Annie DiMartino to PACE as our education director," said Ray Cullom, CEO of PACE. "DiMartino brings a wealth of experience from not only an arts education perspective but also a professional in the field. We feel that DiMartino will be a huge asset to the PACE team as we continue to emerge into the market as dedicated art professionals and forward-thinking civic leaders, and she is exactly the person that we need to help to make our dream a reality."

In her role as the Education Director at PACE, DiMartino will work to develop and implement fundraising efforts, as well as bolster programming around education, entertainment and the engagement of audiences from in and around the Bellevue area. From theatrical production to arts education, she will work to bring the visual arts program to the next level of innovation and connectivity. In addition, through community and civic programs such as residencies for college graduates, as well as in-school residencies, and beyond, DiMartino will allow young professionals a chance to evolve their career through performing arts.

PACE will be the world's first purpose-built 21st century performing arts center, leveraging the existing entrepreneurial spirit, unique energy and drive for innovation present in the country's technological nerve center of Bellevue, just east of Seattle, WA. Anchored by a 2,000-seat performance hall embedded with the latest technology, the cutting-edge cultural hub will be a vibrant, creative multi-use space that also features a dedicated MakerSpace art incubator, to foster arts education.

For more information, visit pacelive.org.