Maureen Ater’s life is a vibrant blend of paintbrushes, piano chords, and three daughters who keep her on her toes. As President and CEO of Arts In Stark, she’s shaping Stark County’s creative future, but talk to her for five minutes, and it’s clear: her family—Audrey (15), Grace (13), and Evelyn (9)—is the heartbeat behind it all. “I still pinch myself that I get to be their mom,” she says, her voice catching just a little. “They’re my why.”
Growing up in Stark County, art was her first language. “My parents were artists—mom with her watercolors, both of them throwing pottery,” she recalls, grinning. “Creativity was breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” Museum trips, origami classes at the Massillon Museum (“I can still fold a crane!”), piano at five—it all stuck. That spark carried her through a winding career in marketing and nonprofits, landing her at ArtsInStark. “It’s full-circle,” she says. “Not just a job—it’s who I’ve always been.”
A Family Painted in Color
Home is where Maureen’s real masterpiece lives. Her girls are as artsy as she is, each in their own way. “Audrey’s our theater kid, Grace is always sketching, and Evelyn? She’s banging out tunes,” she says, pride dripping from every word. They’re her crew, always up for a play or a concert. “Want to hit the arts? They’re like, ‘YES!’” she laughs. It’s a shared love that ties them together, even when life gets chaotic.
And chaotic it gets. “Balance? Total myth,” she admits, shaking her head. Leading ArtsInStark means juggling a million things—donors, murals, the iconic Cultural Center—but her kids know she’s all in for them. “No matter how wild it gets, they’re my top priority.” It wasn’t always a given she’d be a mom. “I wasn’t sure I wanted this,” she confesses. “We waited, and when it happened, it was hard—work, volunteering, little ones. But worth it? Oh, yeah.”
One story sums it up: a bucket-list trip to Broadway for The Music Man. “We’re front row, and Hugh Jackman winks at Evelyn,” she says, still tickled. “She’s convinced they’re besties now.” Those moments—loud, messy, magical—are what she lives for. “The arts give us that,” she adds. “Memories that stick.”
Art With a Purpose
That family energy spills into her work. At ArtsInStark, Maureen’s pushing to make art everyone’s—especially kids’. “Programs like SmARTS get creativity into classrooms,” she explains. “It’s not just fun, it’s how they grow.” She sees it at home, too. Her daughters finding their voices through theater, pencils, and melodies. “I want that for every kid here,” she says.
She’s also big on art’s bigger impact. “It’s not just pretty, it’s jobs, visitors, life downtown,” she says, Mural Fest Canton is her baby: a collab with the City of Canton and others that turned walls into stories. “The artists blew me away,” she says. “Now I see people stopping, snapping pics. That’s community pride right there.”
The Juggle Is Real
Keeping ArtsInStark humming isn’t easy. “Money’s the beast,” she sighs. “We’re stewards of this 50-year-old legacy—the Cultural Center, its nine-acre campus and it takes cash.” She’s chasing donors, proving art’s worth, all while raising her girls. Success isn’t just funds, though. “It’s my team thriving, the board buzzing, Stark County feeling alive,” she says. “And coming home to my kids still liking me,” she adds with a smirk.
Roots and Recharge
Maureen’s family isn’t just her daughters, it’s the tight circle of grandparents and friends they cherish. “We’re small, so we’re intentional,” she says. Downtime means flea market hunts, “I’m a vintage nut”—or curling up with a podcast. Her girls get it from her: volunteering’s a given. “We don’t just talk about giving back, it’s us,” she says, echoing the community love she learned from Stark County itself.
Her mentor, Maria Heege from United Way, shaped her, too. “My SHE-ro,” she calls her. “She saw something in me I didn’t.” Now, Maureen’s paying it forward, telling seasoned pros: “Lift up the young ones. It matters.”
Slow Steps, Big Dreams
With her family by her side, Maureen’s dreaming of a Stark County where art’s as natural as breathing. “Walk slowly, but not backward,” she says, her mantra for life and work. “We’re moving forward—together.” And when she’s wrangling her girls or a new mural, you believe her.
“The arts give us loud, messy, magical moments—memories that stick.”