People: Arts and Humanities Office at IU Research
Assistant Vice President for Arts and Humanities Edward P. Dallis-Comentale is a professor and administrator whose work focuses on public arts and humanities as well as community engagement and quality of place. He oversees research and creative activity support for faculty as well as creative partnerships across the state. Formerly, as founder of the IUB Arts and Humanities Council, he established the Gayle Karch Cook Center for Public Arts and Humanities, launched the First Thursdays A&H Festival, which attracts thousands of guests each month, and created the annual Granfalloon Festival, attendance for which topped 12,000 last year. In 2018, Dallis-Comentale helped establish the IUB Center for Rural Engagement and served as team leader for the Center’s Quality of Place initiative, a role in which he developed the award-winning Town Engagement Program.
Associate Director of Arts and Humanities Linnea Holt holds a B.S. in Arts Management and brings a diverse skill set, including donor database management, venue management, art installation, cultivation of strategic partnerships, and program development. In her current role, she develops and communicates public-facing arts and humanities programming, representing IU in regional and state-wide community initiatives. Linnea works to connect the IU Office of Research Development with various stakeholders, including students, community leaders, artists, and scholars for the Spirit & Place Program. Since starting her role, she helped implement two new Spirit & Place programs aimed at engaging a broader public audience and fostering deeper student involvement.
Erin Kelley is the Assistant Director of Arts and Humanities. Her work focuses primarily on developing multi-disciplinary research teams and pursuing high-profile fellowships with arts and humanities faculty. The initiative on which she is currently working is A&H Futures, a program meant to address contemporary issues of significant urgency in four areas of focus across the university. She previously worked as the Program Manager for Platform, a $2 million Mellon-Foundation- funded initiative at Indiana University Bloomington.
Associate Director of Arts and Humanities Research Development Ana Maria Velasco holds a bachelor’s degree from IU and has worked for IU Research in a variety of roles since 2011. Ana has an extensive background in donor cultivation and stewardship, event planning and management, office and program administration, and program and project management. In her current role, she manages a number of internal funding programs for arts and humanities faculty and has staffed the IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellows program since its inception. She also works with the wider Office for Research Development (ORD) on projects and initiatives organized by that office, serving as a liaison and coordinating the A&H team’s efforts with ORD.
Arts and Humanities Strategic Grants and Awards Committee
Jonathyne William Briggs, Associate Dean of Arts & Humanities (IUN)
Judah Cohen, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Research & Creative Activity (IUB)
Chris Darr, Dean of the School of Humanities & Social Sciences (IUK)
Vivian Halloran, Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion; Arts & Humanities (IUB)
Peg Faimon, Dean of Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design (IUB)
Barbara Kutis, Dean of School of Arts & Letters (IUS)
Michelle Mallott, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives (IUE)
Douglas McMillen, Dean of Colleage of Arts & Sciences (IUSB)
Kevin Meskill, Assistant Dean for Research (IUB)
William Potter, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs (IUI)
George Towers, Head of Division of Liberal Arts (IUC)
Jeffrey Wilson, Associate Dean for Research (IUI)