Previously on the BA blog, you heard about how we work remotely to bring you the best arts nonprofit solutions we can offer. Now, meet the team behind the screen!

Sarah Benvenuti

A Little About Me:

Oh hi there! I’m Sarah, the founder of Benvenuti Arts. While I absolutely love having a company named after myself, the name came more from a lack of creativity than ego. But I’m very lucky to have a lovely-sounding name to work with! As you may have guessed from the name, I come from solid Italian-American stock on both sides of my family, though I’m unfortunately not yet fluent in the language (I’m working on it!). But I know enough to know that “Benvenuti” means welcome! And not just welcome to you (that would be singular: Benvenuto), but welcome to many. 

For me, that’a at the core of why I started Benvenuti Arts and one of the core values that keeps us motivated. It’s a belief that the arts are for EVERYONE. That good art is any art that gets people singing, dancing, writing, drawing, laughing, gathering, changing, growing. Art is and should be for everyone, not the very few. And that the groups out there making sure that this is true are often small in budget and financial resources, but giants in their dreams and impact. I’m so proud to work with so many groups doing this amazing work, and to have such an amazing team that shares these values.

And I’m thrilled that you’re here, and hope you will join us. Benvenuti!

Favorite piece of culture right now / What kept me sane during quarantine:  

While I’ve been trying to keep up with great shows out there (hello, Great British Baking Show and The Queens Gambit!), I’ve found I’m really turning back to reading during these corona-times. Anyone who knows me knows I have a penchant for fantasy and sci fi (I mean, dragons and magic are super cool!), so I’ve been diving into some rereads and some new books. One of my fave authors is V.E. Schwab. She writes amazing, near-earth fantasy. Think real life, plus MAGIC. Her recent release, THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE is just beautiful and haunting. It’s definitely sticking with me. To move on, I decided to reread my favorite series of hers, A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC. I would also highly recommend Tomi Adeyemi’s CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE books, anything by 2020 MacArthur Genius N.K. Jemison, and the page-turner Afrofuturism series BINTI by Nnedi Okorafor. Clearly, I’m digging some escapism!

Favorite Meme:

While there are lots of variation on this gif, I love the slightly threatening SOON for almost all occasions. Looming government grants season? Excited to see your friend after a long separation? Kids asking when dinner is ready? It works for everything!

Julie Hord

A Little About Me:

Sarah and I met in the Arts Management Program at Carnegie Mellon University! We co-directed an art space for emerging, alternative artists together which is where our professional and personal relationship began. Having been raised in a very artistic household, the arts have always been an inextricable part of my life. I played french horn throughout school, did some theater, and would live in an art gallery if I could.

I love my work at Benvenuti Arts because I believe in the incredible work our clients are putting into the world. If I can play a role in helping these boundary-pushing, visionary companies secure the support they need to keep doing the inspiring, essential work they are doing, then I am happy! I also love developing relationships with clients over the years of working together. It’s a real treat getting to know them alongside the important work we’re doing together. Finally, the BA team is such a joy to work with! As we continue to grow, I have loved the opportunity to work with such talented, open, smart, and warm individuals.

Favorite piece of culture right now / What kept me sane during quarantine:  

Seems like there are a couple of horror super fans on the BA team (spoiler for Alicia, below!) I’ve always loved horror movies, but for whatever reason during quarantine, I have been diving into the genre big time (escaping real life dread to make-believe dread?!) This is in part due to a delightful podcast I found called Too Scary; Didn’t Watch, which is ”a horror movie recap podcast for those too scared to watch for themselves.” Each week, I’ve been watching along with them and then listening to their charming, hilarious, engaging run-downs of scary movies, both old and new. Oh! And I’m watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time. (I know – I buried the lede!)

Favorite Meme:

In honor of the spooky season that just ended, I’ve got to say I particularly love this meme I’ve seen circulating lately. It never ceases to elicit a true guffaw from me!

Adriana Rossetto

A Little About Me:

I’m a multi-hyphenated artist with a strong inclination to avant-garde aesthetics and a no-nonsense approach to the business. I’m genuinely interested in people who contribute to keeping things weird, loud, off-the-grid, exciting and brave. I try to reconcile my many identities and cultural backgrounds into everything I do, and I often struggle to fit into one box: theatre and the performing arts, with its characterizing fluidity of roles and ideas and forms, has often been for me the perfect medium to explore my many selves.

I met Sarah taking her workshops when I was spearheading the development efforts of The Private Theatre, my artistic home in New York, leading up to the performance of Rocco Chelsea [et all] at HERE Arts Center in 2019. I ran into her at the Indie Theatre Fund Big Giveaway later that year after Rocco Chelsea was adjudicated an LMCC grant and an Indie Theatre Fund grant. We’re part of the same community of theatremakers, but I owe her so much for those early successes – she was the first person that made me understand that it was possible and pointed me in the right direction!

Favorite piece of culture right now / What kept me sane during quarantine:  

Taking into account that this morning I have accidentally poured soap on my toothbrush and, after realizing what I had done, I still considered for a full minute the potential benefits of brushing my teeth with soap instead, I don’t think any culture is really keeping me sane. I’d say that, in this era of  screen time overload, I enjoy knitting while listening to audio books. I’m currently listening to “No one belongs here more than you” by Miranda July, read by Miranda July.

Favorite Meme:

Tayler Gill

A Little About Me:

Among other things, I’m a digital dreamer, travel addict and I unapologetically love the color orange. My alternate persona is Traveling Tayler where I create blogs & videos around my travel life (pre-2020) and provide insights and resources for people who are looking to work remotely and travel. I always performed in shows or plays here & there growing up and went full in in High School. In college and throughout my time in Austin, I better balanced my love of sports & theatre by becoming a Sport Management major and working part-time for a local production company, Capital T Theatre. It was here that I began settling into the role of Stage Manager and realizing that is where my creative skills are best put to use.

I met Sarah through a mutual friend last year when she was searching for a Virtual Assistant. Only a couple months later we officially met in person at Edinburgh Fringe Fest. My friends and I decided to attend a Sing-A-Long one night. I invited Sarah and wouldn’t you know she had already been invited by a person in my group! Mutual friends all around. We had lots of fun and all sang our hearts (& lungs) out.

Favorite piece of culture right now / What kept me sane during quarantine:  

Early in quarantine I wasn’t that interested in consuming any sort of culture, but as I slowly got back into it I focused on more light hearted entertainment such as Great British Bake Off and the nature documentaries on Disney +. Especially the accompanying “how it got made” documentaries. More recently I’ve entered into escapism and have been rewatching all the modern seasons of Doctor Who. (The Eleventh Doctor is still my doctor). I did take a recent break to watch The Vow documentary which was absolutely horrifyingly bonkers.

I’m also a massive into podcasts and have been mixing it up a lot more this year. Of course I love my True Crime podcasts My Favorite Murder, Crime Junkie, and I Survived. I recently binged True Spies because I can’t resist a good story with plenty of suspense. Some of the less heavy more fun ones I enjoy are You’re Saying It Wrong, which is all about the words and language we use, Personology, a psychological examination of significant historical figures, and the ever reliable Pop Culture Happy Hour.

Favorite Meme:

Alicia Margarita Olivo

A Little About Me:

My time at Benvenuti Arts as the Administrative Assistant so far has been really fun! This is going to sound incredibly nerdy, but I love sending emails and scheduling meetings.There’s something comforting about a color-coded calendar to me. After five years of doing theatre in a college setting, it seemed logical to me to dip my toes into arts administration. Earlier this year, I was connected to BA by The Indie Theater Fund, and the rest is history. I’m very grateful to be working with a great team while also getting to be involved in the arts scene in some capacity, even during quarantine!

Favorite piece of culture right now / What kept me sane during quarantine:  

One of my favorite genres is horror-comedy because of how hard it is to balance genuine dread with light-heartedness, and it’s really effective in forcing you to stay in the moment. A couple of my friends and I host movie nights every Thursday online, and it’s been a great way to revisit old favorites while keeping in touch! So far I’ve forced my friends to watch classics such as the musical Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and the British limited series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004). Next up: Evil Dead II (1987) and Tremors (1990)!

Favorite Meme:

Something that’s been really nice to see in the past couple of years is the rise of “wholesome” memes, which vary from reminding people to keep hydrated to being affirming. They’re nice to receive or send, especially in these times! Here’s one of my favorites:

Amrit Kaur

A Little About Me:

Hey y’all! My name is Amrit (Um – rit) Kaur. People often mistake the “rit” in my name as “reet” but it’s really just “rit” like the Ritz Carlton or Ritz Crackers. I can only afford one of those as a younger millennial/gen Z hybrid and if you guessed the latter… well, mind your own business will you?! 

I’m a community organizer by trade, filmmaker and storyteller by passion! In boring terms: I am someone who builds bridges between creativity, equity and social impact to create intersectional movement building. In “Amrit terms”: smash the patriarchy, overthrow white supremacy and eat the rich!! 

I met Sarah very randomly, through a rabbit hole of networks that ended up having us meet a couple months ago in September 2020 when she was searching for an assistant. Funny enough, I didn’t get that job but she created a project manager position for me to be able to work at Benvenuti Arts and really apply my intersectional movement building skills while working with some very dope non profits. I loved the multiple calls with her and the team that I decided to jump on board right as I got the offer because I really do see potential in many of the artists, creatives and socially impactful people we work with. At the end of the day, my life’s statement is to really live this one, guaranteed life I have (because as we know – nothing else besides today & right now is guaranteed to any of us!) with the fullest intentions of creating change and bringing real uplifting energy to my communities. I believe I can really help BA with a social justice lens and learn so much!

Favorite piece of culture right now / What kept me sane during quarantine:  

I really spent the quarantine period working on creating and running my own startup called Museroom! I thought very heavily on the current issues of the world, the anti blackness I see in my own South Asian community and how many of my friends and colleagues in creative fields suffered huge losses this year.

Favorite Meme:

My face for all of 2020!

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