MICRO-BIO

• As the Director of Cultural Affairs for the CIty of San Jose since 2008, Kerry Adams Hapner leads the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA). Her portfolio includes public art, creative placemaking, special events, cultural funding, convention and cultura...More

  As the Director of Cultural Affairs for the CIty of San Jose since 2008, Kerry Adams Hapner leads the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA). Her portfolio includes public art, creative placemaking, special events, cultural funding, convention and cultural facility management, creative entrepreneurship, convention and visitor bureau, and the creative economy. She leads significant cultural policy and programs including: Cultural Connection: San Jose's Cultural Plan, cultural development goals for the Envision San Jose 2040 general plan, and Playa to Paseo, an innovative partnership with Burning Man Project. She regularly writes and speaks on a range of topics from placemaking to art and technology to the role of the arts in communities at events and conferences including but not limited to Americans for the Arts, Grantmakers in the Arts, Independent Sector, National Arts Marketing Project, and Arts Reach. In 2014 and 2015, the last two years that it was published, Kerry was named one of the most powerful and influential leaders in the United States' nonprofit arts sector in Barry's Blog, published by the Western States Arts Federation. From 2013 to 2016, she served as the Chair of the United States Urban Arts Federation and has served on its executive committee since 2010. She serves on the baords of Californians for the Arts and California Arts Advocates, and on the advisory board of The Canales Project. She is a member of ArtTable. 

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EXPERIENCE

• City of San Jose

  • Director of Cultural Affairs
  • May 2008 to Present

• City of Ventura

  • Cultural Affairs Manager
  • Cultural Affairs Division
  • 1999 to 2008

EDUCATION

• Stanford University

  • Master in Liberal Arts
  • September 2015 to August 2019

  The MLA program is an interdisciplinary program comprised of the arts, humanities, philosophy, social science and natural science. Under the advisement of Dr. Paula Moya, her thesis, "Plumed Serpent: Politics of Place, Art and Cultural Inclusion," is a researched case study on the power of public art to capture history, reflect identity, and anchor public memory.

• University of California a Los Angeles (UCLA)

  • Bachelor of Art in Art History with a Specialization in Business Administration
  • August 1991 to June 1995

• University of California at Irvine Extension with American Society of Appraisers

  • Fine Art Appraisal Studies Certificate

Interests

• Art

• Triathlon

• Taekwondo

• Nature

Links

• San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs