Meet Patrick Hamilton | Fine Arts Event Coordinator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Patrick Hamilton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Patrick, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The Monroe County Fine Arts Center opened its doors for regular use in 2017. Within three short years, our Fine Arts Center has become an arts education hub for Monroe County and surrounding communities. In addition to supporting our schools’ arts programs, our center presents a wide variety of professional concerts and community events. As we build our reputation and recognition across the state, the primary factor that has contributed to our success is our student impact.

Monroe County Schools produce some of the most talented and dedicated students in the state. Our Fine Arts Center is utilized for student rehearsals and performances roughly 170 out of 180 days of school. In addition to school-related activities, our students are consistently involved in our professional events as well.

Our entire mission revolves heavily on arts education opportunities. Student performers and volunteers are involved with every production that comes across our stage. Often our center offers our students the opportunity to perform next to and work aside leading professionals within the entertainment industry. Our community engagement is directly reflective of our student involvement. Anytime that our students have the opportunity to perform on stage, we have a packed house.

Over the past three years, The Monroe County Fine Arts Center has grown significantly as we now offer performances given by artists touring nationally and host both regional and state performing arts competitions. In addition to program growth, we have also experienced an increase in student academic achievement. The Monroe County School system has continuously risen the ranks as a top school district in the state of Georgia. Many factors contribute to the success of Monroe County Schools, including an emphasis on arts education. As the community continues to see the direct impact of our work with the students and faculty of Monroe County, I am confident that The Monroe County Fine Arts Center will continue to witness substantial growth.

Please tell us more about your career. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?My career is in Fine Arts Administration. I oversee the operations of the Monroe County Fine Arts Center, which features a 1200 seat auditorium, a 5,000 square foot stage, a conference room, and a large lobby that serves as a banquet hall. As an Arts Administrator, I manage artist booking, negotiations, and contracts. I coordinate technical aspects for shows, event marketing, and manage the ticketing operations for the events within our facility. My focus is on community and student engagement while providing safe and efficient theatrical productions. I am overly excited about being on the ground floor of an up and coming entertainment venue.

I believe what sets me apart from other venue managers is my experience. I have worked crew jobs, built scenery, distributed tickets, set up audio and theatrical lighting, budgeted out for productions, and have even cleaned venue restrooms; I have been on both the creative side and the management side. My first-hand experience in nearly every aspect of a performance venue’s operations gives me the tools to be a more compassionate leader and a more effective manager.

While working my way through college, I took nearly every theatrical gig available to me to make ends meet. My roommate and I lived off of manager special deals and ramen noodles. We lived in an old apartment in middle GA and refused to turn on the air during the summer to save every penny that we could. The paychecks were small, but the knowledge gained by the work was enormous. In school, I began struggling with the juggle of work and classes. After two years, I dropped out and changed career paths entirely. While looking for odd jobs, a theatre manager offered me the opportunity to build scenery for a local community theatre. After a year and a half, I decided to return to school to complete my degree in theatre. My second attempt at school turned out to be much more successful. I drove 45 minutes between work and school every day, working late hours and studying early mornings. In hindsight, I was much busier than I was during my first college attempt, but I was much more focused.

I graduated with a BA in Theatre from Georgia College and State University. I began my career as a box office clerk and worked my way up to a senior technical position backstage at The Grand Opera House in Macon, GA. The historic Grand Opera House offered me unique challenges that helped to mold my skills and technical knowledge. While working at the Grand, I also served as an interim Technical Director at Wesleyan College. I worked as a freelance scenic designer and builder for several theatres across the middle GA area. My freelance work ultimately led to the discovery of The Monroe County Fine Arts Center. Based on my previous experiences, the Monroe County Board of Education hired me to manage the newly constructed facility.

The path to my career was not traditional; however, I am proud of my experiences and the work ethic that those experiences taught me. I learned that no job is too small; every team member has a vital role within an organization and that you should treat everyone as a valued teammate. As a theatre manager, I will never ask anyone to complete a task that I am unwilling to do myself. Witnessing my supervisors chipping in with the grunt work and not so glamorous jobs taught me the value of teamwork and the importance of appreciation.

I am incredibly humbled to have the opportunity to manage the Monroe County Fine Arts Center and am excited about the future of our facility and our facility’s programs. Working to support our schools’ arts opportunities is an absolute pleasure and a joy to witness the growth of both our students and the community.

Through our Fine Arts Center, we strive to create meaningful experiences for both our students and our community. I hope that the opportunities that we offer inspire and better prepare our student body for the challenges of life. In addition to being an educational facility, we also understand our role as an entertainment venue. If our audience members and students leave our facility with a deeper understanding, a newfound appreciation, or perhaps just the experience of community, that’s a job well done.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would, without a doubt, begin our visit in downtown Forsyth. For lunch, we would drop into one of the very best pizzerias in our area, Jonah’s Pizza. Their pizza is stone baked, the ingredients are always fresh, and their customer service is top-notch. We would do a bit of shopping in our downtown shops, and would eventually take an ice cream break at my favorite locally-owned ice cream parlor, Scoops. That evening we would enjoy southern cuisine from a local favorite, Grits, and then we would top off the evening with live community theatre at the historic Rose Theatre.

The next day we would make the trek out to Jackson to hike High Falls State Park and to soak in the beautiful landscape. After, we would visit Dauset trails to witness the wildlife that lives within our county.

Following our day in Jackson, we would take a trip out to Lake Juliet for kayaking and swimming. After our morning at the lake, we would drop in for some fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café and shop through the movie set town built for “Steel Magnolias.” We would finally end our journey with a professional concert at The Monroe County Fine Arts Center featuring an opening act from our fabulous Mary Persons Choir.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to the Monroe County Board of Education Leadership.

It continually amazes me how much our school system pours into the arts for the students of Monroe County Schools. Without the support of our school system, our Fine Arts Center, nor the opportunities that we create, would be possible.

The Monroe County Board of Education is ranked the number one school district in middle Georgia and ninth in the entire state of Georgia. I am a bit biased, but I like to think that the continued support of our arts programs has contributed tremendously to the success of our students and the ranking of our school system.

One individual in particular that I would like to recognize is Mr. Jackson Daniel. From day one, Mr.Daniel has been an integral part and substantial driving force behind our Fine Arts Center. As the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel & Operations, Mr.Daniel is ultimately responsible for roughly 650 employees spanning across six schools; needless to say, he is an integral part of our entire school system. Even with the vast responsibility that his position entails, he somehow finds time to support the mission of our Fine Arts Center fully. Mr.Daniel’s support does not end as an audience member or school system administrator. He is often found serving touring performers through our catered services, taking professional photos of our student performances, managing our social media accounts, and even aiding in the clean up after large productions.

As 1 of the roughly 650 employees that Mr. Daniel oversees, I always feel as though he is just one phone call away. He leads with compassion, understanding, and is always happy to help with a smile. Mr.Daniel became a mentor as soon as I joined the team, helping me navigate the inner workings of the school system, local media relations, and the entire community of Monroe County. I am very appreciative of Mr.Daniel’s leadership and know that much of the success of our Fine Arts Center has derived from his support of our organization. 

Website: monroefinearts.org
Instagram: @mcsfinearts
Twitter: @mcsfinearts
Facebook: @mcsfinearts

Image Credits
Jackson Daniel Conni Middleton Tane SP Design