Charly Nanda wasn’t looking for a new job — until one appeared that seemed like the perfect fit.
Experiences in arts administration, cultural programming and community engagement have positioned Nanda for success as Needham Community Education’s new director for adult programs, a role she hopes will allow her to positively impact Needham arts and culture.
“The first time I ever felt really successful was during some art participation in sixth grade,” Nanda said. “I was Narrator Number 3 in ‘Charlotte’s Web.’ And, you know, it was a formative experience. I think arts participation makes people feel really successful … So when I moved here, I really felt like I wanted to make Needham a place where I could see myself and my family.”
The adult program is one of four age-specific categories within NCE, a branch of Needham Public Schools offering enrichment programs. The recent change in program leadership was set in motion by long-time administrator Amy Goldman’s retirement.
Passing the torch
When preparing to pass the torch, Goldman looked for someone who could maintain a vibrant program, bring new ideas to the table and was well-connected within the community. Nanda, she said, was a “perfect fit” — echoing the phrase Nanda used to describe her new job.
Nanda’s various hats in town have included substitute teaching, volunteering at Needham Community Farm, stepping in as secretary for Needham’s Cultural Council, chairing Needham’s Council for Arts and Culture, acting as a working group member of Needham Arts & Culture Action plan, Town Meeting member and member of the board of directors for Needham’s Community Action Network, and managing public art projects — to name a few (on the side, she dabbles in grant-writing).
Much of Needham’s new public art can be traced back to Nanda: the mural by Trader Joe’s, downtown art boxes, painted jersey barriers, a town-wide transparent art scavenger hunt, blacktop art at High Rock, fence art at Pollard and mosaics around Haddock-McLeod Plaza.
As a parting gift to Nanda, Goldman has spent the past six months creating a handbook of checklists detailing every aspect of the job. Before her June 30 retirement, Goldman and Nanda spent two and a half weeks working side-by-side.
“I kept telling Charly, ‘This is how I do things, but that doesn’t mean that’s how you have to do things,’”
Goldman said. “[It] makes it easier to have a template to start with, but please take it in any direction you feel is right, and make changes.”
Goldman credits Sue Bonaiuto, the recently deceased former director of planning and community education for NPS, with NCE’s beginnings. In 2006, Bonaiuto was tasked with reinventing the program. “It had been sort of a bunch of miscellaneous things going on with no real central oversight, and she had hired a consultant to sort of create a vision for what it could be.”
Mary Grace Summergrad became NCE’s first adult program director soon after. Under her leadership, the program gained visibility in surrounding communities.
Goldman jumped into NCE’s programming for children around the same time, before taking over from Summergrad in 2018. “I was in the perfect stage of my life for growing the program, because I was entering my period of time when I was an empty nester,” she said.
With a steady flow of program ideas from friends and community members, Goldman set to work developing partnerships with local organizations like Powisset Farm in Dover, Gordon’s Fine Wine and Liquors and Cappella Restaurant.
“Sometimes something I thought would be very popular wasn’t, and sometimes I thought something that was worth trying but might not be popular, proved to be very popular,” she said.
Today, the impact of NCE’s adult programming extends beyond Needham. Current classes offered through the adult program range from fresh cheese-making and ceramic oyster plate sculpting to private language lessons, a beauty workshop and Mah Jongg for beginners.
“For the region we’re really the adult ed program,” said Goldman. “The goal is to support the curiosity and interests of lifelong learners in many ways, and to offer a fair price with really high-quality instructors, and to meet all sorts of interests that people might have.”
A hub for connection
Nanda hopes NCE adult programs will remain a hub for community connection and shared experiences. Toward that end, she will continue building the program around community interests.
“Mah Jongg? Hot cakes,” she said, highlighting an upcoming Mah Jongg mixer in town. Nanda also referenced a Nantucket weaving bracelet class, featured in the fall catalog, that stemmed from one individual sharing their interest with Goldman.
“I just really hope that not only will [people] find us, [but] they’ll find us as a resource, and then we can work with them to build what they want to see,” she said.
In Nanda’s first week of work, Goldman has already seen positive changes, noting the newsletter is visually more engaging.
“I want [people] to be a little FOMO, afraid that they’re gonna miss out on these amazing events happening,” Nanda said. “But we have to meet them where they are, and it’s really hard to break through the noise; it’s hard to find out about things because there’s so much happening all the time.”
“My bucket list for retirement was always [to] learn a musical instrument, speak a new language, do some watercolor painting, and maybe learn how to play golf or Canasta,” she added. “And literally all of those things are in our catalog in the fall. So I think there is something for everyone and I hope they come to us and find it. And if not, we’re coming to them.”
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