Arts districts are incubators of creativity & help stimulate economic activity. 

Via the arts, Hadley has worked to stimulate economic activity, neighborhood revitalization, and community engagement in Philadelphia, PA and in southern NM. This approach was influenced by Hadley's background as an artist: she has exhibited oil paintings in New England and in the Southwest. 

Mano y Mente Program: In 2005, Hadley founded Mano y Mente, an artist-in-residence program in wild west Tularosa, NM. Mano y Mente hosted dozens of talented professional artists from around the U.S. to create artworks inspired by the Tularosa Basin. Each program session concluded with large public art shows, which attracted regional visitors to downtown Tularosa. To prepare for Mano y Mente, Hadley directed the adaptive reuse renovations of multiple historic adobe and Frontier Victorian buildings that were converted into the program's studio, housing, and gallery spaces. To showcase donated work by Mano y Mente's artists, Hadley also established Tularosa's first art museum in 2010. Originally located in a historic bank building, Hadley relocated the museum in 2015 to a former wild west hotel. In part due to Hadley's efforts in the early 2000s, Tularosa's downtown increasingly attracted art events, galleries, art stores, and economic activity.

Tularosa Historic Village Revitalization: After receiving a 2012 graduate degree in city planning and urban design from the University of Pennsylvania, Hadley continued revitalization initiatives in downtown Tularosa for over four years. Working with the Greater Tularosa Foundation and Jalapeño Real Estate, Hadley focused on catalytic community development and public space projects. Her accomplishments included plans for the creation of a Tularosa plaza / town square, a main street improvement design, and a visitor center initiative. Separately, Hadley was hired by Community by Design, the urban design firm consulting for New Mexico MainStreet and the Frontier Communities Initiative Program (now named the Frontier & Native American Communities Initiative). In this role, Hadley created visuals for Tularosa's Granado Street revitalization plan and its proposed outdoor market plan / performance space. A selection of Hadley's urban design visualizations can be seen at this link.

Throughout Hadley’s tenure in Tularosa, she organized multiple public meetings and events. The largest event she directed was the first annual Halloween on Granado Street Festival in 2015. Working with community stakeholders, businesses, town officials, and creators, she coordinated all facets of the festival. Despite having only a month’s notice to prepare, the successful event attracted 500 - 1,000 attendees to downtown Tularosa. See this article for more information.

Philadelphia Artist-in-Residence Program: Hadley was the community liaison for Philadelphia's 40th Street artist-in-residence program, 40th St AIR, which works to make West Philadelphia's 40th Street neighborhood a nexus for visual arts. The program awards West Philadelphia artists one year of free studio space in exchange for the artists sharing their talents with the West Philadelphia community by creating public art, exhibiting, leading educational workshops, and teaching classes. From 2011 - 2012, Hadley worked as an intermediary between professional artists and community organizations, curated and promoted group exhibitions, and has served as a guest judge for the program's competitive application process. 

Whitemarsh Art Center: Hadley served as Executive Director of Whitemarsh Art Center for two years. Prior to this role, she worked as a consultant to the organization in mid 2019. The Center, founded in 1964, fosters engagement in the arts for people of all ages and abilities. It holds classes, exhibitions, lectures, and workshops. During the pandemic, Hadley pioneered Whitemarsh Art Center's online expansion, which grew the Center's regional following and attracted online students and lecture attendees from both coasts and overseas.

In April of 2021, the Whitemarsh Art Center board announced that it had partnered with Whitemarsh Township to embark on a new location opportunity. With the help of a generous private donor, the Center is expected to relocate to a portion of a 10.45-acre property on the National Historic Register. The site includes Abolition Hall, a former Underground Railroad station, and Thomas Hovenden's historic art studio.

For details about Hadley's role guiding the organization through the pandemic, visit this Chestnut Hill Local profile. For press about Whitemarsh Art Center's expected relocation, visit the Philadelphia Inquirer or NPR / WHYY.

Frontline Arts: In 2024, Hadley was name Interim Executive Director of Frontline Arts. The organization’s mission is to connect communities through socially engaging arts practices rooted in papermaking and printmaking. Frontline Paper’s vision is an inclusive future where everyone engages in a brave space of commonality, connection and empathy through the arts. Guided by core values, Frontline Arts educates every level of experience in the arts; connect people through mobile, in-house and virtual programming; foster a positive culture through storytelling and craft; prioritize access and representation for underrepresented communities.

Frontline Paper is a focal program of Frontline Arts. Frontline Paper’s specialty is the transformative process of making handmade paper from military uniforms. Through public workshops, this handmade paper creates a platform for veterans and non-veterans to come together and share stories providing a “new language,” and much needed discourse between veterans and society.

Frontline Paper was originally founded in 2010 as Combat Paper NJ, a nationally-recognized and growing veterans’ papermaking program. In 2015, Frontline Arts was born to grow and broaden the Frontline Paper model. In 2018, Frontline Arts merged with the Printmaking Center of New Jersey, which had been founded in 1974. 

For information about Frontline Arts, please see our mission page. For information about Frontline Paper, please see this video overview from NJ.com or this article in Philly Magazine about the origins of the program.

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