JESSICA ALLRED

Wizard Behind the Curtain

Jessica, aka The Wiz, does a little bit of everything here at RAS and wears a lot of hats. She is a brilliant bean counter, a fantastic filer, a conscientious calendarer, and a supreme systematizer. In other words, Jessica helps keep the silliness a little less random and a lot more organized by bookkeeping, scheduling, managing databases, staffing installations, and doing all the other operational things that help keep our small but busy organization ticking along.

She came to Montana from Georgia, where she grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta in a family that loved community theater. She spent her childhood surrounded by a wonderful group of actors, musicians, singers and performing artists of all kinds. Growing up, Jessica always had a book in her hand and dreamed of becoming an author, owning her own bakery, and having a home full of love. While book and bakery have yet to happen, that last one is one of her proudest achievements. As a mother of four, she has definitely mastered multitasking!

Jessica majored in Business Administration, spent time in banking, then spent many years staying at home with her children and playing piano in the Belgrade schools. She has lived in the Gallatin Valley for more almost twenty years, and loves spending time with her family, reading, playing piano, attending her kids’ school events, and generally being their biggest fan ever. She also enjoys cooking with her boyfriend Michael, baking bread, and singing her heart out in karaoke. An avid learner her whole life, if Jessica had a superpower, she’d want it to be the ability to learn anything quickly and retain and use that knowledge, so she can soak in as much as possible.

“I am so grateful to have started with RAS just as the 5th Bumblewood Thicket was kicking off. I loved seeing all the effort behind the scenes that goes into the art, and how much joy it brings visitors. Literally everyone has a smile on their face as they leave! In a time when there are many loud voices saying how divided the world is, RAS is proof that good people still exist who are dedicated to bringing communities together. Being in an organization that specializes in bringing joy and whimsy and wonder to the entire community feels like a little bit of heaven on earth.”