Arts Alumni Spotlight: Hannah Kelly and Franki Graham

Arts Alumni Spotlight features UMBC arts graduates Hannah Kelly ’17, theatre, and Franki Graham ’13, dance, discussing how their careers have developed since graduation. The conversation explores the varied paths available in the arts, the ways personal experiences shape creative work, and how artistic careers can intersect with education, administration, family, and community leadership.

Kelly will discuss building an acting career after earning her B.F.A. at UMBC while also creating a sustainable personal life. She will address balancing professional performance with family, relationships, travel, and other work, guided by her belief that life enriches and informs art. Her professional career began with a role at Everyman Theatre in 2018, and she joined its resident company in 2019. Her Baltimore-area credits include *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*, *And Then There Were None*, and *A Midsummer Night’s Dream*. She was scheduled to appear next in *The Mirror Crack’d* at Everyman Theatre from November 29 through December 30. Outside acting, Kelly cares for her daughter Eleanor, runs Charmed Florals, and works as an installation manager for a sign company.

Graham will consider how her work as a dance artist, educator, administrator, and arts leader has supported and expanded her career. She will discuss the unexpected opportunities created through relationships in the dance community, as well as the curiosity and adaptability that have shaped her nonlinear professional journey. Graham is the Dance Department Chair and Director of the Peabody Institute Preparatory Program, a position she has held since 2022. She earned a B.A. in Dance as a Linehan Artist Scholar and an M.A. in Dance Performance from London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance as a Leverhulme Scholar. She later pursued a professional performance career and co-founded and directed LucidBeings Dance with Jeanna Riscigno from 2017–20. Her educational and leadership experience includes Anne Arundel County Public Schools, nonprofit organizations, UMBC, the Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms program, and the Maryland Dance Education Association. She is also a certified Functional Awareness movement educator.

When: Wednesday, October 28, 2026.

Showtimes: The talk runs from noon to 1 p.m. Registrants may arrive at 11:45 a.m. for lunch before the event.

Venue: Performing Arts & Humanities Building, Room 216.

Format: In-person talk and discussion.

Tickets: Free.

Presented by: The Center for Innovation, Research, and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA).

Lunch: A complimentary lunch with dietary options will be available for early arrivals.

Registration: Anyone planning to arrive for lunch should RSVP by October 22.

Participation: The event is open to full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and University nondiscrimination policies.