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Catherine O'Brian, Grants Coordinator-Arts in Education & Arts in Health
 Catherine O'Brian joined the State Arts Council's staff in 1993. She oversees grants and services for Arts in Education and Arts in Health.
As Arts in Education Coordinator, Catherine has participated in a number of professional development programs including the Amherst (MA) Writers and Artists Certificate Program in Teaching Creative Writing to Underserved Populations; the Creative Center’s training in New York City for artists working in hospitals with cancer patients; Hospice training from Sunapee Visiting Nurses Association; and the committee to develop NH's State Curriculum Frameworks for the Arts. She has also served as a review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Education and Literature Programs.
Prior to joining the State Arts Council staff, Catherine had a range of professional experiences including working at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Manchester where initiated and coordinated a poetry reading series and the Jazz in the Mills Concerts. She also served as an Adjunct Faculty member of Plymouth State University's M.Ed. Program in Integrated Arts and as a board member for the New Hampshire Writers' Project.
Catherine's community experience includes serving as a program director for New Hampshire Girls Clubs, writing grants and designing year-round creative arts programs for low-income youth. While there, she won a national award for the building of a community playground with community youth and neighbors. She has done social work and outreach with low-income immigrants while working at the Latin American Cultural and Social Center and has taught English as a Second Language and served on an oversight board for the Capital Region Community Prevention Coalition
Catherine completed her MA in Writing in 1995, with a focus in Poetry, at the University of New Hampshire. She is a founding member and participant of Yogurt Poets, a community writing group which has been meeting for more than 20 years. She has received several awards for her poetry including, a Fellowship to write poetry at the Ragdale Artists Colony, and a scholarship to write at the Vermont Studio Center. Her manuscript for The White Nightgown was awarded the UNH Thomas Williams Graduate Poetry Award. A chapbook of her poems, Lucky to be Born in a House of Milk, was published by Oyster River Press as part of the Walking to Windward Series in 2001.
Catherine is a mother and grandmother. She grew up in the Philippines but for over 30 years has made New Hampshire her home. She lives in North Sutton. Her personal interests include all the arts, especially children's literature and art; walking, swimming, jazz, dance, visual arts and travel.
Last updated:
December 23, 2014
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