Ellen’s Work Blog
January 2026

2026 is here. And already there are lots of exciting plans in the works for the new year.

For starters, we have invited Jennifer Chrein to join AMP as our new executive director.

I have known Jen for a short 18 months, our first meeting at one of our LIVE @AMP concerts. She comes to us with a deep background in kids’ programming, working with national outlets like Sesame Street and Common Sense. Her experience in global programing and media distribution specializing in children’s content creation is going to be a game changer for us as we look ahead to growing all areas of our education programs. Full of ideas already and not limited to kids, we have already shared thoughts about expanding our public events to include one act plays and an exciting partnership with the dance company Pilobolus in the works.

One of my biggest problems from the first day I started dreaming about creating the mural, was having to keep too many great ideas at bay. I would dream so many scenarios for the big mural space and tell myself to stay centered on the first goal: creating a home for AMP.

Now we have the space, and these ideas are happening again. The possibilities feel almost limitless.

Let’s see what we can do to launch a few of them in the next 12 months!