Arts administration alumna takes skills from textbook to theater

October 30, 2025

MAA graduate Hope Eller puts theory into practice as artistic director of The Company at The Valley Gem.

Born into a family of artists, alumna Hope Eller, MAA ’25, credits her upbringing as a foundational source of a lifelong love of arts.

Having worked with community theaters across the state and bringing experience in theater at both the undergraduate and graduate level with her, Eller coupled real-world skills with educational experiences, allowing her to pursue her goals and start a creative business. The Company at The Valley Gem is a natural theater troupe that stages more than 150 performances spanning a range of live music, murder mystery parties, character portrayals and historical reenactments, themed events and fully produced theatrical productions.

With a cast of 20 part-time actors, Eller has taken classroom knowledge to the real world to build a thriving artistic venture from the ground up.

Eller received a bachelor degree in Musical Theater and Acting/Directing from Bowling Green State University and has a background in tourism and event planning, but when it came time to run a business, she knew she needed a deeper understanding of arts administration and entrepreneurship.

She joined OHIO’s Master of Arts Administration program and said the experience has been transformative in teaching her the necessary skills for operating arts organizations.

“The foundational knowledge of the skills we’re gaining in this program relating to how to manage and operate an arts organization have been applicable to me in that I’ve been able to actively apply the things I’m learning in real time,” Eller said.

Running a theater company aboard a boat — as one might imagine — presents unique challenges. Boats aren’t exactly designed to act as performance venues, so Eller and her team had to adapt their theatrical staging techniques to engage audiences in immersive productions. Eller had to adapt to the challenges of living in a new place and forge connections to develop local support and create meaningful partnerships, but she said despite these challenges, the rewards have been immense.

Eller credited the mentorship and support of faculty in the MAA program as being instrumental in her professional success. She said the guidance of faculty members like Rachel Cornish, Assistant Director of the School of Theater, and Roberto Di Donato, former Producing Director of Tantrum Theater, as well as her graduate assistantship with Steven Strafford-Elkins, head of the Musical Theater program at OHIO, have given her valuable insight into how arts administration operates at the institutional level.

For other students hoping to launch their own arts organizations, Eller stressed the importance of collaborating and partnering with others to find community within the arts.

“If you’re waiting around for the right opportunity to share your art, the time has come to create that opportunity yourself by being loud about what you do. Post your work, invite people to your shows, and don’t feel shame about sharing with your community that you’re a working artist with stories to tell,” she said. “The right people will see what makes you special and all the value in your ability to create, and those people will feel inspired by you. Chase collaboration and partnerships, and those who believe in you will be passionate about assisting you in getting where you want to go.”