Hi, I'm Hale!
I grew up listening to and playing the bağlama, a traditional Turkish string instrument, and that is what sparked my deep curiosity about culture.
That curiosity led me to study sociology at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, where I focused on how societies are organized around culture, industry and the economy: who produces culture, who gets access to it, and how value moves between artists, institutions and agencies. Alongside my degree, I completed the university's fine arts certificate program, which gave me a hands-on creative practice next to my academic work.
To act on these questions rather than only analyze them, I came to Parsons School of Design for an MS in Strategic Design and Management. There, I learned to design the systems behind cultural and creative work: business models, programs, services and strategies that need to work for audiences, organizations and budgets at the same time.
Within the arts, my focus is music and sound. I've been building my career around it, from artist hospitality and backstage coordination at concerts and festivals in Istanbul to my current role in marketing and communications at Arts for Art, a New York nonprofit for free jazz and experimental music. What drives me is how music reaches people: how it is produced, presented, funded and experienced.