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November 4, 2024Nicholls State University hosted a sculpture dedication ceremony for Angela Hammerli on October 30. Speakers at the ceremony included Nicholls President Jay Clune PhD, Dean of the College of Sciences and Technology Dr. John Doucet, Professor of Art History Dr. Deborah Cibelli and Angela’s husband Ed Hammerli.
The stainless steel commemorative statue created by Nicholls alumnus Scott Hebert, depicting a female figure striding forward as if performing a dynamic and graceful dance, provides an iconic image that recognizes Professor Hammerli’s decades of inspired service. With its placement adjacent to Shaver Gymnasium, the statue will enhance campus and remind many of those who view it of her formative influence in cultivating the arts and promoting a true sense of community.
At the event, Dr. Cibelli said, “As a faculty member newly arriving at Nicholls, I felt welcomed to join the faculty and encouraged to help with public service by Angela Hammerli in her role as the director of the Jubilee Arts and Humanities Festival. As an educator and a true champion of the arts, she brought together faculty, staff, students and community members and enhanced their experience of Nicholls and Thibodaux. She supported international students and opened her home to them during the holidays. She is especially deserving of being celebrated for her spirit of generosity and for her professional efforts in promoting collaboration and bringing so many projects to fruition.”
Angela’s father George “Gee” Mitchell attended Nicholls in the 1950s, helped establish the athletics department and eventually became the department head of physical education. He motivated Angela to study dance so she could come back to Nicholls and teach, and she did just that – teaching dancing and health for over 42 years. Angela Hammerli was a distinguished service professor, Orleans Pitre endowed professor and festival coordinator.
Beginning in 1998, Angela created and directed Jubilee: A Festival of Arts and Humanities, bringing artists, performers and writers to Nicholls from all over the world, such as the Singers of United Lands, an international vocal group with natives from four different continents. SOUL brought representatives from Africa, South Korea, Asia, Europe and South America. The festival took place annually spanning several weeks during spring semesters and was sustained through grant writing initiatives and an annual Jubilee fundraiser filled with musical performances and cuisine prepared by the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute.
Angela regularly biked her 1.25 mile commute to school during her tenure at Nicholls, collecting recyclables on her rides. She preferred biking everywhere she needed to go, at one point earning about $1,300 from recycling which she donated to the Lafourche Parish Library in Thibodaux.
Angela conducted dance and theater workshops at elementary schools in addition to choreographing dance numbers and doing promotional work for the Thibodaux Playhouse, a group she worked with for decades. She was a lifelong resident of Thibodaux and one of the city’s most passionate promoters of arts and humanities, and now, a part of her will remain dancing on campus.