Our Students
Caili Harris, 2027 MFA Candidate (Arts Leadership)
Caili Harris (she/her) is a theatre artist and administrator from Lexington, Kentucky. She holds a B.A. in Theatre and French Language Studies from Centre College. During her undergraduate studies, she enhanced her understanding of British and American theatre history and literature in a semester-long exchange at Rose Bruford College while actively engaging in performance, assistant directing, and writing.
Caili’s theatrical experience spans performance, directing, producing, writing, and academia. Notably, she organized a fundraiser reading of Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel, raising funds for the Kentucky Health Justice Network’s abortion support fund and raising awareness about abortion rights. Her original work, Spilled Pop and the Dimensions of a Happy Place, which she wrote, produced, and co-directed, was performed at Centre College and the SETC Fringe Festival in 2023. Additionally, she was recognized as an Undergraduate Emerging Scholar by the Mid-America Theatre Conference.
Most recently, Caili completed an observership with Exchange Theatre in London, England, where she utilized her theatre, French language, and public relations skills to create content and expand the company's network by connecting with other francophone organizations in the area. Caili is excited to focus her research on francophone theatre, aiming to create, maintain, and support francophone dramatic arts spaces in the United States and abroad.
Bria Weisz, 2027 MFA Candidate (Arts Leadership)
Bria Weisz is an arts administrator and Rice University graduate with a BA in Computer Science in the Arts and a minor in Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage. Prior to beginning their graduate studies, they held curatorial positions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the University of Minnesota's Weisman Art Museum. Within the theatre world, Bria has served as an assistant director, dramaturg, and community engagement specialist at Theatre in the Round Players in Minneapolis.
Having experienced a wide range of leadership styles in academic, community, and professional visual and performing arts organizations, Bria is passionate about fostering sustainable and accessible creative spaces for artists and audiences alike. Their computer science background informs their interest in technology as a projection and assessment tool. With technology as a grounding force, they aspire to bolster community-mobilizing artistic endeavors.
Ashley Cooper, 2026 MFA Candidate (Arts Leadership) is an Arts Administrator from Gaffney, SC who graduated with a B.A. in Performing Arts - Theater from Clemson University. As a life-long theater practitioner, her production experience ranges from actor, stage combatant, props artisan and stage manager. Since moving to an administrative role, she has worked to support teaching, technical, and performance artists with logistical, financial and community support and seen the challenges the industry faces at a community and regional level. Having held positions such as Assistant Company Manager (Utah Shakespeare Festival) and Operations Coordinator (Brooks Center for the Performing Arts), she is excited to embark on graduate studies to pursue solutions to the financial and cultural issues facing industry professionals to maintain the viability of our industry. Ashley is excited to focus her research on non-profit funding models, sustainable business practices for the entertainment sector and the vital role arts and community organizations play in public revitalization.
Liz Gray, 2025 MFA Candidate (Arts Leadership)
Liz Gray is a candidate for her M.F.A. in Arts Leadership and holds a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization Management at Virginia Tech. Previously, she attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (Stella Adler Studio, B.F.A. Theatre), The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London, Certificate), and The Upright Citizens Brigade (NYC, Certificate).
Liz has been an arts educator, researcher, consultant, theatre-maker, and adjudicator for nonprofit organizations, schools, theatres, and competitions across the country. She is currently the Director of Development for Backyard Stages, a 501(c)3 theatre company in New York City. Recently, Liz worked as a strategic planning consultant for the Academy Center for the Arts in Lynchburg, VA; as a research consultant for the Jefferson Center in Roanoke, VA; as a strategic and development consultant with Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network in Lexington, KY; and, as an instructor and project manager for Virginia Tech’s Center for Communicating Science in Blacksburg, VA. Previously, she was the Communications Director and Company Manager for the Merely Players theatre company, while also teaching on the faculty in the Performing Arts Department at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Liz presented her research on nonprofit and city-entity embeddedness at the 48th League of Historic American Theatres conference and has facilitated conference workshops on science communication for the Society for In Vitro Biology and at Rutgers University.
Liz is passionate about ethical leadership and generative board governance, the communication of science and research to non-scientists, multi-modal educational practices, aesthetic accessibility, strategic change management, and engagement with community through artistic practice.
Vincent Maluwa, 2025 MFA Candidate (Arts Leadership) is an arts administrator from Malawi, Africa. He graduated with a B.A.H majoring in drama from the University of Malawi. Vincent is currently a Mentee in the inaugural cohort of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) Mentorship Program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and he is also an Alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a U.S. Department of State's premier professional exchange program.
Vincent has served in the arts and culture sector in various capacities such as researcher, cultural translator, festival producer, curator, music school administrator, facilitator, theatre director, actor, and judge for the Teaching of English in Malawi (ATEM) Drama Festival. He has also worked with diplomatic missions in Malawi. This past summer, he was tutoring with Virginia Tech’s Center for Refugee, Migration, and Displacement Studies. He also attended the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) Conference. Vincent's commitment to his field is further demonstrated through his membership in the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) and the National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH). Vincent is passionate about non-governmental organizations and development, the intersection of arts and displacement, arts and health, arts and social justice, peacebuilding, and creative placemaking.