Meet Our New Staff Members

It is with great pleasure that Lotus announces two stellar additions to the Lotus team: Lydia Campbell-Maher, the new director of community & arts engagement; and Katie Bethel, Lotus’s new development coordinator. With the uncertainty of the pandemic changing the landscape for the performing arts and for Lotus, their appointment brings renewed energy and commitment to further the Lotus mission.

Lydia Campbell-Maher

Lydia comes to Lotus with a robust background in community outreach, event production, and ethnomusicology. She began her work in the nonprofit world with Arts for Learning Indiana where she coordinated artist residencies, program budgets, and program evaluations. For two years, Lydia held the position of vice president of community outreach at ArtMix, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that works to transform the lives of people with disabilities through the creation of art.

Most recently, Lydia worked for Traditional Arts Indiana where she planned workshops, helped develop the Memory, Art, and Aging resource guide, and conducted ethnographic research with folk artists. Lydia has planned numerous public events, including the Arts for All Fest, art exhibits, panel discussions, creative aging workshops, and a symposium related to ethnomusicology.

In addition to all of Lydia’s pertinent experience listed above, she is also in the midst of completing a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. She said music and the arts have always been an important part of her life and it definitely shows.

Katie Bethel

Katie brings an equally impressive background to the Lotus team that includes development, grant management, community outreach, and public music performance. Katie is a recent graduate of the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, where she earned a master’s degree in arts administration.

During her two years at the O’Neill School, Katie worked for Lotus as a graduate assistant. She helped to plan and execute a variety of Lotus initiatives such as the four-week outreach intensive, Lotus Blossoms. Katie also assisted with visual arts programming and outreach for the Lotus World Music & Arts Festival. Katie worked closely with Lotus’s former development director to implement a new development data management system and gain insights into the current landscape of Lotus’s development plan.

Besides her work at Lotus, Katie has held positions at the Indianapolis Opera and the Michigan State University College of Music. In these positions, Katie executed database and customer management initiatives, event planning, grant writing and review, and project planning and management.

In addition to her administrative gifts, Katie also has the gift of song. She holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from Michigan State. From her experience in music performance, she has gained the ability to thrive under pressure, and she understands what goes into large scale musical productions and events.

Welcome, Lydia and Katie! Lotus is thrilled to have you!

Watch Lydia and Katie’s introduction videos below!