Full Circle: Dr. Shaila Mulholland Comes Home to Lead Arts for Lawrence

Before there was a cultural campus, before Fort Ben was redeveloped into the community hub it is today, there was a girl on a bike, riding up to a patch of green that is now a state park, sitting under a tree, and singing.

"It was just such a spiritual place for me," says Dr. Shaila Mulholland, interim executive director of Arts for Lawrence. "I could go, ride my bike, sit beside a tree, and have time for reflection." She pauses, almost surprised by the memory herself. "I kind of forgot that, until you asked."

Dr. Shaila Mulholland and her husband, Chris Brazis, recently attended an art gallery exhibit hosted by Arts for Lawrence.

It's a fitting place to start, because so much of Mulholland's story, the one she's living out now at Arts for Lawrence, circles back to that same instinct … Find a quiet place, connect to something larger, and bring people into it with you.

Roots in Lawrence

Mulholland grew up in the Lawrence community and graduated from Lawrence North in 1997. Music was a constant presence in her life. She played piano and percussion all through school. By 15 she'd already won a piano competition and the prize was donated  — $1,000 — to the Lawrence Township School Foundation.

Outside of music, as a high school student, she was working at restaurants like Don Pablo's and American Bandstand, learning customer service and how to get things done efficiently and effectively. “Customer service has been a really good background to have in this new role."

Finding her voice at Indiana University

Mulholland headed to Indiana University (IU) Bloomington. Biology was her undergraduate degree, but her real interest — human development, and how people learn — pulled her toward education instead. She earned her master's at IU, and along the way discovered a talent she hadn't expected: Designing programs that brought people together.

One of those programs, a dialogue series called Common Quest, invited students into conversations about interfaith and spiritual development. It won her awards, and it planted a seed that would define her career around the belief that people need spaces where they can be honest with each other, even about hard things. She also served as the youngest member of a 20-person national research team studying student engagement and inclusion in higher education, work that shaped her identity as, in her words, "a sociologist of education."

That belief carried her to New York University for her PhD in education, with a focus on policy. While there, she was selected for a film and radio documentary training program for young women of color in New York City, run by Chica Luna Productions — an experience she still counts among her most formative, and one that helped her grow not just as a scholar but as an artist. 

New York, San Diego, and finding her way back home

After finishing her PhD, Mulholland spent time back in Indianapolis on a dissertation fellowship from the Lumina Foundation, researching higher education in Indiana. 

From there, the family moved to San Diego, where Mulholland spent more than a decade, from 2009 to 2020, building her academic career at San Diego State University and National University. Even then, music stayed close. She set up a piano studio and taught lessons, something she'd first done as a teenager. "Teaching piano has always been really special," she says. "Music and art have both been something that me and my sons have been able to share together.” Art became even more integral during the years after experiencing the loss of their son and brother, AlVee. 

By 2020, she and her family were ready to come home — not just to Indianapolis, but specifically to Lawrence. "We just love everything Lawrence has," she says: the school system, the people, the way the community shows up for itself. 

Coming back also meant relearning her own hometown. New landmarks, new favorite spots in Lawrence — places like Jockamo Pizza, Café Audrey, Moo & Loo’s Frozen Treats, the library that wasn't there when she left, and the cultural campus now anchoring Fort Ben. 

Stepping into the role

Mulholland quickly reconnected with the community, including a return to the Lawrence Township School Foundation as a board member, being elected in 2024 to serve on the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township School Board, and serving  as a board member for Arts for Lawrence.

When the opportunity came to step into the interim executive director role at Arts for Lawrence — after years of watching the organization's impact up close, Mulholland said yes.

Since taking the role, she's been fully dedicated to the day-to-day operations, including booking artists, implementing and evaluating the organization’s summer camp, organizing outdoor concerts and gallery exhibits, and standing behind the mic at community events like Fridays at the Fort to tell the Arts for Lawrence story.

This summer's camp gave her one of her clearest "aha" moments yet, such as  watching children try piano for the first time. "The magic that happens when they get their five fingers to play a little melody, when they’ve never done that before, is really cool," she says.

Mulholland also saw something she didn't expect … how quickly art dissolved the usual social categories kids get sorted into. "It just got them together and close," she says.

That same instinct … using art to open something up in people … is what she keeps coming back to when she talks about why this work matters right now. "There's so much noise, so much instant gratification," she says. "Taking a pause, learning to listen … that's a different muscle. And if we don't take time to acknowledge the pain people are going through, we can't really help them find another path."

What's next?

Looking a year ahead, Mulholland wants to take what's working in Arts for Lawrence's summer camp and community celebrations and stretch it across the calendar. Those options could include more classes for youth and adults, more music and art instruction, and more visiting artists like the Kenyettá Dance Company program that spent a week with campers this summer. She also wants to grow the organization's volunteer base and bring in more local partners and teaching artists, part of a broader commitment to supporting Lawrence's small businesses alongside its artists.

Her seat on the MSD of Lawrence Township School Board reinforces all of it. "These enriching experiences … a music class, an art class … they're not just nice to have," she says. "They're essential. They give kids an outlet, a form of self-expression, and they support a child's resiliency." 

It's the same thread running through Arts for Lawrence's community events, from Juneteenth celebrations to Fridays at the Fort: honoring traditions, building unity, and giving people a reason to gather, she says.

Beyond the bio

Ask her what people might not know about her, and she doesn't hesitate … she plays more than piano. Percussion, xylophone — she's got a full setup at her home, including three pianos in her living and dining rooms. 

But mostly, she'd rather people experience Arts for Lawrence than hear her describe it. "I can talk and talk," she says, "but you just have to come and experience it firsthand." Step onto the Fort Ben campus, into the gallery or the theater, and see what she means.