Lisa Harms of Whitehall Township has been named ArtsQuest’s first Director of Education and Outreach.

The new position, made possible through the support of Mrs. Elaine Emrick of Bethlehem Township, will allow the nonprofit arts organization to expand its arts-related educational programs in partnership with public and private schools and community organizations.

Harms is responsible for creating and implementing arts and education programs that tie into ArtsQuest’s music, visual arts, film and dance programming for the region.

Among her primary responsibilities will be the development of in-school, after-school and summer education programs for K-12th grade students, with an emphasis on initiatives that strengthen and expand access to the arts for underserved segments of the community, while using arts in education as a supplemental teaching technique for non-arts curricula including science, social science, math and English.

Harms will also be responsible for developing educational and community programs and professional development classes geared toward area educators, seniors and persons with disabilities.

“ArtsQuest has long targeted education and outreach as an area it wanted to expand in to help meet some of the growing needs of our diverse community,” said Kassie Hilgert, President and CEO of ArtsQuest.

Harms received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from New York’s Pratt Institute.

From 2001-’14, she worked for the Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, most recently as Assistant Museum Librarian for Collections and Access.

Prior to coming to ArtsQuest, Harms worked for the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, first as a consultant and then as Collections Manager and Education Coordinator.

She is on the Whitehall Township Public Library Board of Directors and was a member of the Suburban North Family YMCA Board of Directors.

Harms lives in Whitehall Township with her husband, Aaron, and their son, Henry.