About the Commission

Amy Hausmann | Executive Director

Amy Hausmann, Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission, brings over 25 years of experience in public service and arts administration. Previously, she directed Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York, managing its 250-acre National Historic Landmark. She also served as senior curator and deputy director at the New York Transit Museum and deputy director of MTA Arts & Design, overseeing acclaimed visual and performing arts programs across New York City’s transit system. A passionate advocate for art and culture, Hausmann has dedicated her career to public service and the arts. With a deep personal connection to Maine, where she spent her childhood summers, she remains committed to the state’s creative community. At the Maine Arts Commission, she champions collaboration, innovation, creativity, and connection, aligning with the Commission’s mission to nurture and celebrate the arts statewide.

Contact Amy: vog.eniam@nnamsuah.yma  |  207-592-0448

Julie Horn | Assistant Director

Julie is the Assistant Director for the Maine Arts Commission. She relocated to Augusta after working for six years as the director for visual arts, craft, media, and design at the Tennessee Arts Commission in Nashville. Her tenure there also included curating and managing the TAC gallery. Her education includes a BFA in painting from the University of Arizona, an MFA in print media from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and a fellowship at the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University. Her professional experience includes facilitating studio and lecture classes at several colleges in middle Tennessee and serving as an adjudicator for grants in Louisiana and Tennessee. In 2013, she was invited by Tennessee’s First Lady Crissy Haslam to curate Tennessee craft and traditional artwork for the Tennessee Executive Residence. She is also a published writer of art criticism for Numbers Inc., Art Papers, and the Nashville Scene. She was the curator of public programs for the Frist Center for Visual Art and has received certifications in nonprofit leadership and nonprofit management. In 2016, she was an invited speaker at the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design on Contemporary Craft Apprentice Programs and served on the panel Being and Doing: Legacies of Creative Practice and Education at Black Mountain College. She also serves as a member of the Maine/New Brunswick Cultural Task Force.

Contact Julie: vog.eniam@nroh.eiluj  |  207-287-2790

Eli Cabañas | Grants & Website Manager

Eli joined the Maine Arts Commission with over 15 years of web design and development experience. He spent most of his career in New York City using his background in economics, video production, and website design to bring content and stories to life for financial companies and news organizations. Eli left the city in 2016 to be closer to his family. He moved to Friendship, Maine, where he was immersed in a life of art and lobstering. Most mornings he worked as a sternman out of Friendship Harbor. He also worked with artists to create digital and physical presences throughout his mid-coast community. Equipped with a diverse skill set, he hopes to do his part to support artists and achieve the goals of the Maine Arts Commission.

Contact Eli: vog.eniam@sanabac.ile  |  207-215-5872

Khristina Kurasz | Program Director

Khristina leads the development of the Maine Arts Commission’s arts and health initiatives, including Creative Aging Maine, Arts & Health Roundtables and Convenings, Veterans Art & Resources, Poetry Out Loud, and the Maine State Poet Laureate projects. With a background in Maine’s workforce development, arts administration, and artist residency programs, she brings a holistic approach to this cross-sector work. She works in collaboration with artists, healthcare providers, arts organizations, community organizers, and funders to expand access to creativity and culture as a means of supporting health and wellness for all Mainers. She is a 2023 alumna of MCOA’s Leadership Exchange on Ageism, with a B.A. in Health Arts & Sciences from Goddard College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a focus on the power of writing as a healing art. She has published two short stories and is working on a memoir.

Contact Khristina: vog.eniam@zsaruk.anitsirhk  |  207-215-7817

Ryan Leighton | Communications Director

Ryan Leighton grew up with a healthy dose of fishing culture and tales from the sea. A native of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, he realized he might not be cut out for the salty life of lobstering and attended the University of Maine in Orono to study journalism and advertising. His passion for storytelling has taken him from reporting for small-town coastal newspapers to writing on the high seas aboard a 19th-century whaling ship. Before joining the Maine Arts Commission in January 2017, Leighton completed a full-length documentary film about walking the Appalachian Trail. In 2018, his documentary won Best Maine Film at the Maine Outdoor Film Festival. In his current position at the Maine Arts Commission, Leighton enjoys telling stories about the arts through digital content creation.

Contact Ryan: vog.eniam@nothgiel.j.nayr  |  207-215-7281

Danielle Moriarty | Program Director

Danielle comes to the Maine Arts Commission from Massachusetts, having previously worked for the City of Newton as the Associate Director of Cultural Development. In this role, she was actively involved in arts and culture planning, supporting the local creative community, facilitating cultural events and programming, and cross-sector collaboration through the arts. Danielle’s dedication to connecting people to creative ideas and places has been a lifelong passion. She is a strong advocate for integrated cultural resources and programming and for fostering spaces for arts and culture in our communities. She is particularly interested in creative placemaking and placekeeping, public art, and socially engaged art. Outside of work, she’s taking care of her houseplants, checking out local arts and cultural experiences, trying new restaurants, or searching for the world’s greatest almond croissant. Danielle holds a BLA in Cultural Studies and an MPA in Public Humanities and Arts from UMass Lowell.

Contact Danielle: vog.eniam@ytrairom.elleinad  |  207-441-1490

Martha Piscuskas | Program Director

Martha brings 30 years of nonprofit organizational leadership alongside a deep understanding of the state’s issues. Most recently, she was Executive Director at Waterfall Arts, the community arts center in Belfast that she co-founded in 2000. One of five siblings, all artists, with parents in secondary education, Martha grew up immersed in active creative inquiry. In addition to serving on her local school board, she has led and founded numerous Maine organizations, including MaineShare, Maine Center on Economic Policy, and Maine Initiatives. Martha has presented nationally and served on multiple boards, including as Chair of the Waldo County Fund of the Maine Community Foundation and Chair of the Maine Board of Haymarket People’s Fund. A member of the Zeta class of Leadership Maine, she holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Wesleyan University and a BFA from the Maine College of Art. A longtime resident of Waldo County, Martha lives on a homesteading, solar-powered farm with her family.

Contact Martha: vog.eniam@saksucsip.ahtram  |  207-446-8935