Claire Huschle Calls Job as Executive Director at AAC Her 'Dream Job'

“A lot of things happen to me by happy accident,” said Claire Huschle, about landing her job as the executive director of the Arlington Arts Center (AAC) in the summer of 2005. It’s easy to understand how Huschle, who exudes confidence and enthusiasm would attract those “happy accidents” that brought her to the area and her dream job.

A native of Long Island, Huschle describes having an idyllic childhood as the youngest of four children —there is almost a nine years difference between Huschle and her next oldest sibling. “In some ways I’m the youngest of four and in some ways I’m an only child, which was great…we didn’t fight over sweaters and who was more popular at our school and then I had all those years being an only child with my parents.” 

Huschle, who said she comes from a long line of librarians, was a bookworm.  Her father was an attorney and Huschle’s mother was an elementary school teacher who went back to school at age 50 to get her master’s degree in library science. Huschle said it was a very cool thing to see her mother later in life pursuing a professional dream. “So you could see that at any age you could become what you wanted to be,” Huschle said. 

Her own love of books came in to play when it was time for Huschle to decide what she wanted to study: “So I read a lot and I was always interested in the arts so it probably comes as no surprise that in college and graduate school what I studied was illustrated books, in particular medieval books—such a geeky thing and totally impractical but it was fun,” she laughed.

Huschle attended the University of Michigan for her undergraduate studies and completed her graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin.  After graduate school Huschle temporarily moved back to Long Island to help care for her father who was sick and ultimately passed away. She didn’t want to return to Texas and did not want to be in New York.

“One day a cousin who lived in Bethesda, called and said she needed a roommate in her condo and had I ever thought about moving down to Washington,” she said.  That was in October of 1998 and Huschle has been in the area ever since. After a short stint as a legal secretary working for a family member, Huschle took a position as a gallery director/administrative assistant with a design firm in Dupont Circle.   

The firm had a gallery space on the ground floor of the building they occupied and Huschle discovered that she enjoyed putting together exhibitions. “I liked dealing with the artists a lot and I liked talking with them about what they were thinking and what their ideas were,” she said. 

Over the course of a year and a half, Huschle, who had never run a commercial gallery, determined that there were aspects of the job that she really enjoyed; although, she suspected it was not a long-term situation. “The design firm closed the office but here’s another lucky happenstance thing…I interviewed for a job at the Torpedo Factory on a Tuesday, was laid off on Friday and got a job offer the following Tuesday,” Huschle said.    

While she enjoyed the five years she spent at the Torpedo Factory, as a gallery director and community liaison, Huschle said her ultimate goal was to be the executive director of a nonprofit art center. In order to fill a “gap” in her resume of running a program or educational opportunity, Huschle applied for a position with the AAC as a program director. She served in that role for only six weeks. 

When the executive director decided to resign, Huschle was quickly promoted. “It was like being a sponge thrown in water and you just have to soak everything up right away,” explained Huschle of her early days running the center.  

Landing her dream job is just “another crazy lucky story” in her life, according to Huschle. She is quick to express her gratitude to the staff and members of the AAC board of directors for their invaluable support of her efforts.        

“One of the attributes that makes Claire a great boss is that she really listens,” said Catherine Satterlee, AAC program associate. “For the staff it means feeling valued and respected and therefore, ready willing and able to contribute wholeheartedly.”

Satterlee describes Huschle’s managerial style: “In one-on-one discussions and in staff meetings, she welcomes our ideas, carefully considers them, and then renders a decision that we all feel is stronger because it is built on the collective wisdom and creativity.”

Lee Gainer, one of the resident artists at the AAC, also gives Huschle high marks, and says her art practice has grown thanks to her insights. “She is professional, knowledgeable and personable,” she said. “Always willing to give you a few minutes of her time even with her busy schedule.”

For her part, Huschle acknowledged her favorite part of the job is working with creative people and putting together interesting projects. And she is thrilled with the new crop of artists just welcomed to the residency program.

“This is really an exciting group of artists—it’s a nice representation of the work being done across the region,” said Huschle adding, “It’s a really solid, intellectually interesting group.”

The admiration is mutual, Gainer noted, “I must admit, I am biased—I think Claire is simply a cool person to know.”

To learn more, visit www.arlingtonartscenter.org