SRU alumnus curating community as supervisor of North Carolina park
Adam Bell became part of a community on a 660-acre rural campus at Slippery Rock University. Now, as a professional, Bell is responsible for building a community around a 7-acre urban park in the heart of one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.
Bell is the supervisor of programming for Downtown Cary Park in Cary, N.C. A 2010 SRU graduate with a degree in communication-public relations, Bell is not designing blueprints or swinging a hammer to build the new $68-million public gathering space. He's responsible for what people will do there now that the park is finished. This includes organizing concerts; movies; arts and food festivals; yoga classes; and wedding receptions.
On LinkedIn, Bell describes himself as a “community curator.”
“I have the opportunity to impact people's lives daily,” he said. “Downtown Cary Park is a free park that's open seven days a week, so to be able to invite our citizens to this park and offer them cultural-enriching programming is extremely important to me and I'm happy to be able to serve the community.”
Although Downtown Cary Park was completed in November, the project itself was 20 years in the making, long before Bell embarked on his career or enrolled at SRU. But as Bell's career progressed, he developed the skills to become the right person in the right place to guide programming at what can be considered the model for how a contemporary city park should function.
The park has a botanical garden, waterfalls, walking bridges, an amphitheater, a grab-and-go food market, a pavilion and plaza, picnic areas, and multiple dog parks, as well as a splash pad and playgrounds that include two play structures in the shape of cardinals.
“People are hungry for the arts and outdoor recreation,” Bell said. “Being able to offer these types of programs and experiences to our residents really gives me energy.”
Bell didn't always have this type of energy. A native of Butler, Bell enrolled at SRU as a biology major with the intention of going to medical school to become a cardiologist.
One day Bell was doodling during a class when a fellow student involved with the University Program Board noticed and tapped Bell on the shoulder and said, “Hey, you're creative; why don't you join our organization.”
After graduating from SRU, Bell earned his master's degree in counseling psychology and college student personnel administration at James Madison University; and he worked at Elon University in North Carolina as the assistant director of student activities.
He was hired by the Town of Cary in 2015 as festivals and events supervisor. A year after the Downtown Cary Park broke ground in 2021, his role became exclusively focused on event management.
“I took this job because I wanted to continue creating experiences for people,” Bell said. “Our main goal is to provide a place of community and a place of belonging.”
Justin Zackal is a communication specialist with Slippery Rock University
