Alex Bryant is not even 30 years old, and being named Ix Art Park Foundation executive director in January was only the latest milestone along his ascent to local leadership.
Bryant joined the Charlottesville community in 2011, enrolling at UVA as an engineering student. He switched to music when an advisor told him to do what he loved. That led to his first job out of school: coordinator for Monticello’s Heritage Harvest Festival. He then moved along the festival circuit to the Tom Tom Foundation, where he took only three years to leapfrog the ranks to managing director.
In 2021, Bryant went to work alongside Ix Art Park executive director Susan Krischel. Less than a year later, he assumed Krischel’s role as she stepped away from day-to-day operations.
“She was looking to pass the torch,” Bryant says. “We had talked, and we share a similar vision.”
And what is Bryant’s vision? He starts with the Ix building’s history—a former textiles factory sitting dormant for more a decade and a half as downtown Charlottesville grew increasingly vibrant around it. Reopened and reimagined, Krischel and her co-founders believed the area could be a hub for creativity and productivity. It could be a commercial center with restaurants and shops, but it could also be more.
Through his experience with Tom Tom and beyond, Bryant brings a wealth of nonprofit programming knowledge to Ix, and that stands to be his focus as the park moves forward. Art classes, dancing, festivals, outdoor film screenings, farmers’ markets, concerts—it’s all critical to keeping IX alive, and a lot of will continue to be “absolutely free,” Bryant says.
“People can come down to the park, they can paint with watercolors, and they can just exist in a free space,” he says. “The art and the public space portion of it is the magic jewel. You don’t have to be doing anything. You can just read a book or take a nap.”
Bryant hopes to build on Ix’s existing relationships with the local Boys & Girls Club, Cville Pride, and other community organizations. And he wants to continue drawing people to The Looking Glass, Ix’s 2-year-old immersive art exhibit.
When she stepped down from the Ix directorship, Krischel said, “Alex has the energy, vision, and talent to guide us through our future growth plans.” And the young leader has already had opportunities to prove her correct. Ix is in the process of building a new children’s nature area and a 20-foot x 70-foot pergola using beams from the original Ix factory to give park users shade during the summer—the latter being a $100,000 improvement.
Bryant knows fundraising will be a critical part of his efforts. Ix has long operated on an event funding model, fueling operations with gate fees. But the pandemic tested the approach. As they ramp up fundraising, Bryant and his team hope to draw funding from the grassroots, rather than one-time handouts from deep-pocketed organizations, attracting donations one person—and even $1—at a time.
Assuming the money is where it needs to be, Bryant sees the way forward clearly: To cultivate a pocket of creativity drawing folks not only from around the city but from all over Virginia and beyond to experience the humanity he sees as being inherent in art.
“A world in black and white…in boxes and completely orderly, the humanity of it is just gone,” Bryant says. “Art is what makes us people.”