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Narluga Arts is a grants management and consulting firm working with socially engaged artists and organizations. We specialize in hybridized, collaborative projects, supporting an extraordinary cohort of multidisciplinary artists who believe art has the power to change the world.
Narluga Arts empowers socially engaged artists and organizations by providing expert grants management and consulting services. We specialize in fostering hybridized, collaborative projects that bring together a diverse cohort of multidisciplinary artists. We believe in the transformative power of art and are dedicated to supporting artists who strive to create meaningful change in the world. Through our innovative approach and commitment to excellence, we aim to amplify the impact of artistic endeavors and inspire positive social change.
Jason Ditzian (he/him)
Executive Director
Jason studied Biology, Creative Writing and Music at George Washington University. During his senior year he took an internship at the Washington Performing Arts Society, working with Alvin Ailey, Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich and other luminaries, sparking a lifelong love of working in the arts presenting field. After graduation, Jason moved to San Francisco and immersed himself in the eclectic arts scene. As a multi-wind instrumentalist and composer, Jason has performed, recorded and toured internationally with artists such as Charming Hostess, Oakland Symphony, SF Symphony, Dohee Lee, Joan Baez, Frank London, inkBoat and SF Mime Troupe. He is clarinetist and leader of klezmer ensemble, Kugelplex and Publisher of online community, Klezmer.com.
On the presenting side of the equation, Jason began working with organizations in 2003, producing shows and festivals, working in marketing departments, and creating and executing development strategies. Jason has helped raise millions of dollars for nonprofit arts organizations.
Career highlights include co-founding and co-producing the International Body Music Festival with Guggenheim Fellow, Keith Terry; winning a 2011 American Council of Engineering Companies Engineering Excellence Award for the Bowls Project with Charming Hostess; winning an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for his work with Butoh legends, Koichi and Hiroko Tamano; and co-founding and directing Dohee Lee Puri Arts with Guggenheim Fellow, Dohee Lee.
Jason founded Narluga Arts in 2019 to support artists and organizations in increasing their capacity and realizing their visions and to help further the field of socially-engaged arts.
Eva Lin Fahey (she/her)
Artistic Director
Eva is a painter, designer, and writer based in Western Massachusetts. Since joining Narluga Arts in 2019, Eva has worked to support socially-engaged artists and organizations.
After completing her BFA in painting with a minor in art history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, she continues to create and exhibit work while combining her visual work with poetry and writing. Her paintings and writing were recently published in Afterlives: An AGNI Portfolio of Asian Adoptee Diaspora Writing.
As one of over a quarter of a million children adopted internationally from China, her work exists within the context of this shared experience of cultural loss, personal migration, and separation. It is centered around themes of motherhood, intergenerational ties, and the East Asian diaspora.
A 2023 ValleyCreates Grantee through MASS MoCA's Assets for Artists program, she has exhibited across Massachusetts — Amherst, Easthampton, Holyoke, Northampton, South Yarmouth, Ware, and Wilmington — as well as in El Dorado, Arkansas.
As a designer, Eva specializes in creating user-centered designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Eva's design philosophy blends her fine arts background with contemporary design principles, resulting in digital narratives that blend artistry with user empathy — elevating interactions into intuitive and accessible user experiences.
Autumn Guntor (they/them)
Grants Manager
With a background in teaching ceramics, volunteering in community kitchens, and working in art museums, Autumn sustains a passion for increasing accessibility to the arts and basic needs.
After graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BFA in ceramics, a BA in psychology, and a certificate in social work and social welfare, they worked as a respite counselor, a classroom teaching aide, an art museum security guard, and most recently as an AmeriCorps VISTA member supporting the Smith College Food Rescue Network. As a VISTA member, Autumn organized and evaluated a 50+ student volunteer program that collected and donated over 12,000 pounds of prepared dining hall food from Smith to Manna Community Kitchen through 400 hours of volunteer shifts.
As an artist, Autumn draws inspiration from folk art to explore the idea of feeling at home in the context of housing loss and housing insecurity; stemming from personal and generational experiences, they find connection and meaning through storytelling. Autumn has taught introductory pottery classes at the Smith College Ceramics Club since fall 2022. Their work has been shown across the Pioneer Valley.
Jesse Olsen Bay (he/him)
Grants Associate
Jesse Olsen Bay is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Western Massachusetts. Bay's work centers on facilitating community musical groups, including community marching bands and singing circles. As a composer, he collaborates frequently with choreographers and dance companies, for which he has received two Isadora Duncan Awards. His work has been supported by New Music USA, American Composer’s Forum, Ucross Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Bay is the founding director of Weathervane Community Arts, an organization that builds community through music in Western Massachusetts and beyond. He is currently on faculty at Umass Amherst.
More at www.jesseolsenbay.com
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