The Brookhaven Arts Alliance is a nonprofit partnership of artists, business owners, residents and government dedicated to supporting and enhancing the arts in the Brookhaven area. The alliance sponsors the annual Brookhaven Arts Festival as well as the Taste of Brookhaven. It also provides a collaborative environment to coordinate the interests of artists, gallery owners, theater groups, restaurants and performance venues in Brookhaven and to help build the image of the city as a strong arts community.

Gretchen Roberts

Gretchen Roberts is the Executive Director of the Brookhaven Arts Alliance. She founded the organization in 2004 and successfully recruited a core volunteer group of residents from among the many neighborhood civic associations in Brookhaven. The 2004 Brookhaven Arts Festival was the BAA’s first community event. Over 80 local and regional artists exhibited at the first-year event, which attracted an estimated crowd of 3500 visitors.

In 2005, the Brookhaven Arts Alliance added a second event, the Taste of Brookhaven, which was held in June on the campus of Oglethorpe University. This sold-out event, designed to celebrate and encourage the burgeoning restaurant scene in Brookhaven, attracted over 600 patrons and featured 10 local establishments.

In 2005 , the Brookhaven community celebrated the second annual 2005 Brookhaven Arts Festival. The festival expanded to two days. It also grew to accommodate over 120 local and regional artists and attracted an estimated two-day crowd of over 8000 visitors.

Prior to organizing the Brookhaven Arts Alliance, Gretchen served as the President of the Brookhaven Heights Community Association for five years. She also represented the BAA as a founding member of the Brookhaven Peachtree Corridor Alliance, which spearheaded a successful campaign to obtain a $ 80,000 LCI grant to study Transit-Oriented development opportunities at and around the Brookhaven MARTA station.

Originally from San Diego, CA, Gretchen has resided in Dekalb County for over 30 years. After attending Savannah College of Art and Design, Gretchen worked as a wedding photographer in Atlanta before transitioning to a career in the software industry.

Gretchen lives in the Brookhaven Heights neighborhood with her husband Bill and seven-year old daughter Nikki.