Dallas Coplin, a former assistant manager of the Yukon Fine Arts Center, has been named facilities coordinator for the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center at East Central University.
The center is nearing completion and is expected to open in January 2009.
"We are pleased to have such a qualified person assume the responsibility for our beautiful new Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center," said Dr. Richard Rafes, president of ECU. "It will be a showcase for ECU and the Ada community. Dallas is the right person to inaugurate this new facility and coordinate the activities and events that will occur there and on the pedestrian plaza that will be adjacent to the facility."
As assistant manager of the Yukon Fine Arts Center, a 2,970-seat auditorium, she managed and supervised operations, activities and scheduling. She created and taught a stagecraft class and helped train local students in the technical arts.
Coplin also acted as stage manager for theatrical productions and state conventions and served as assistant technical director for visiting artists and groups.
A 2005 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, she has a bachelor of fine arts degree in drama with emphasis in technical production and has taken courses at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She plans to pursue a master's degree in fine arts but for the time being wants to concentrate her efforts on her new job.
"I am thrilled to be the new facilities coordinator for the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center," she said. I hope that it will become a place that the community can really center around."
She said she anticipates the fine arts center will draw entertainment and cultural opportunities to the community and prove to be a grounding point for the new cultural arts district.
"I see the center as a place where people can see a play or musical, enjoy a new work of art and take pleasure in listening to a band or quartet, sometimes all on the same day," she said. "I expect it will become a place where people will come to celebrate weddings, holidays and any other monumental events in their lives. I also look forward to it becoming an integral part of Ada's First Night celebration and other community events and festivals."
Coplin's husband James works as an electrical engineer for General Aviation Modifications Inc. at the Ada Municipal Airport. Her parents, Robert and Sandralee Moynihan, live in Yukon.
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