Lars Hasselblad Torres has led a life that by his own description is the definition of peripatetic. Born in Palo Alto, California, Lars and his family soon moved to Seattle, Washington, on to Malaysia, then back to Seattle. He spent part of his teenage years in Senegal, where the hustle of life in Dakar defined his early interests in artmaking and surfboard design.

He then passed through a few west and east coast institutions of higher education, including the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC, where he studied photography. He eventually landed in Brattleboro, Vermont, at the School for International Training, where he wrote his senior research thesis on the informal economy involving the repurposing of municipal waste at the dump in Dakar.

His years of working in Vermont have included founder of Montpelier’s Local 64 coworking and gallery space, a stint as director of Vermont’s Office of the Creative Economy, and most recently as entrepreneur in residence at Northern Vermont University’s Do North coworking space. He has also served in a creative capacity at MIT and led Artisan’s Asylum in Boston.

In July 2025, Lars was selected to become the new director of AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. AVA is a well-established nonprofit center for the arts, having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Thirty of those years were under the directorship of Bente Torjeson West, who retired in 2019. Since then, AVA has seen three other executive directors come and go.

A Good Fit

What propelled Lars to his present position included more than just a passing acquaintance with AVA over many years. After moving to Montpelier in 2002, he met artists who exhibited their work at AVA, and he visited the galleries. He familiarized himself with the Vermont creative economy including the redevelopment of White River Junction, and of course, AVA was always just on the other side of the Connecticut River as part of the arts community that melds the two states in the Upper Valley. His work with a particular project having concluded, Lars was considering his future and “wondering what the universe was going to throw at me next.” And unexpectedly, AVA’s job listing appeared on his computer screen—with an application deadline of the very next day. 

AVA Gallery wears multiple hats, some more visible than others. Its art exhibitions are perhaps the most public of its functions. Lars felt his experience fit nicely. First, having watched fellow artists trying to find space in which to create, he appreciated that AVA is a physical home to many local artists’ studios. Second, the education component of AVA is extensive, including numerous classes, workshops, and lectures. Lars has experience in teaching young people in a variety of settings (including a stint as an au pair in Europe), and he values the opportunity to guide students through the rocky process of trying and succeeding. Finally, the sculptural studies building—a real maker space—held special appeal.

Welcoming Artists and the Community

In his first months, Lars has been watching and listening and is “eager to get to work.” What he has referred to as “‘the warm-up laps’ include a proposal for revitalizing community involvement that aligns our membership offer with vibrant community engagement goals that also strengthen our business position.” And he also plans to bring more visibility to AVA’s campus, which includes a beautifully restored Carter-Kelsey building that was the former HW Carter and Sons overall factory, and the newer (2017) Bente Torjusen West Sculptural Studies Building and Kelsey Stone Carving Studio, complete with a roof garden. 

“AVA’s campus is a centrally located gem in Lebanon, one that deserves to be seen widely and known affectionately as a platform for creative connection, learning, and expression. Over the next few months, expect fresh messaging that celebrates our campus, welcomes visitors, and invites creatives to put our spaces to work.” Finally, expect an emphasis on lifelong learning, with an expansion in the breadth and depth of classes, workshops, and artist demonstrations at AVA.

Looking to the Future

Lars has assumed the helm in a time when AVA, like most other regional arts institutions, is experiencing reduced revenues from federal and state governments. The virtual elimination of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts has not only crippled the possibility of obtaining matching federal funds but it has also set up a new structure for arts organizations to receive help from private businesses and individuals—it grants donors tax credits—that critics believe may prove unwieldy at best and maybe unworkable. The challenge, then, for AVA is to reach out to existing supporters while also cultivating new ones.

What’s an executive director to do on a day off? For Lars, weekends have been filled with arts excursions, including a recent visit to a potter located in Northampton, Massachusetts. You could find him in his gardens at home, or in the kitchen making food that “inspires people to gather around,” like vegetable korma or a platter of tacos. Last but never least, Lars is himself an artist, most recently working in collage. He has spent the fall trying to get his own creative work done, because his home studio, seasonal like those of many local artists, is, of course, unheated. 

AVA Gallery and Art Center

11 Bank Street

Lebanon, NH

(603) 448-3117

avagallery.org