Halloween is taken pretty seriously in Ansley Park — and apparently that applies to its four-legged residents, too.

For this month’s cover, Liz Williamson is joined by her 5-year-old Samoyed, Violet, and one of Violet’s canine friends, all dressed for the occasion. And if Violet looks comfortable in costume, there’s a reason. Liz has been dressing her up for holidays for years, and the pair have won their share of costume contests.

“I had never imagined that my dog would become such a big part of my social life,” Liz says.

But costumes are only one part of the life Liz and Violet have built together. Over nine years in Ansley Park, the Ohio native, arts leader and natural connector has found exactly what she loves about Atlanta: community, creativity and the energy of the city, all within walking distance of home.

Originally from Ohio, Liz moved to Atlanta for her job and fell for Ansley Park almost immediately.

“I fell in love with Ansley Park the first time I drove through the neighborhood,” she says.

Nine years later, many of the things that first attracted her remain the things she appreciates most.

“I love that this neighborhood is so easily accessible to Midtown, MARTA, the arts organizations and Piedmont Park,” Liz says. “It’s a peaceful oasis from the noise and bustle of the city, but you are only a couple of blocks away when you want to join in.”

Liz lives in one of the neighborhood’s few apartment buildings. With only 25 units, she says the residents all know one another and have shared social gatherings, giving her a close-knit community within the larger neighborhood.

The arts have been a thread throughout Liz’s life.

She grew up surrounded by art and says her creativity and imagination were encouraged from an early age. As a quiet, shy child, the arts gave her an opportunity to shine — an experience that continues to influence her passion for supporting artists and arts organizations today.

Liz earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, but her entrepreneurial streak emerged before she even graduated. Hoping to work in the music industry but finding few opportunities in Ohio, she decided to create one herself.

During her final quarter of college, Liz launched Kismet Productions. As the company’s sole employee, she spent the next decade booking bands nationally on the college circuit and eventually represented more than 15 artists across the country.

“I’ve always believed that if the opportunity doesn’t exist, you create the opportunity,” she says.

Liz eventually transitioned from the entertainment business into nonprofit leadership, where she discovered another strength: turning around arts organizations facing significant challenges.

Over more than 20 years leading arts and cultural nonprofits, two of the three organizations she has led were financially troubled when she arrived, while all three faced substantial organizational challenges.

“I enjoy walking into an organization that isn’t performing as well as it could, figuring out what’s holding it back, and finding ways to make it stronger and more sustainable,” she says.

At Columbus Children’s Theatre, Liz helped bring the organization out of the red within a year. During her tenure, its budget grew from approximately $700,000 to $1 million, reserves increased by 140%, earned income rose by 35% and average theater attendance climbed from 74% to 89% — growth that continued through the 2007–2008 recession.

That turnaround experience eventually brought Liz to Atlanta.

In 2015, she was recruited to lead the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., where she serves as Executive Director. At the time, the organization was losing money and members, and attendance at its biennial Convergence® conference was declining.

Since then, Liz says contributed revenue has grown from approximately $55,000 annually to about $200,000, staffing has expanded from two full-time and five part-time employees to six full-time employees, and programming has doubled.

But some of the work she is proudest of involves recognizing needs and creating programs to fill them.

She developed the Guild Development Retreat, which brings together approximately 500 guild leaders from across the country and around the world to learn from one another and discuss the challenges facing their largely volunteer-run organizations.

Then came Textiles & Tea.

Liz launched the free weekly virtual interview program in January 2021 as a way for people to stay connected during the pandemic. She intentionally scheduled it for the same time every week — Tuesdays at 4 p.m. — believing consistency would help build a community around it.

This October, Textiles & Tea is approaching its 300th episode. The program regularly attracts 200 to 300 live viewers, with another 500 to 1,000 watching each recording during its first week. Nearly 300 renowned and emerging fiber artists have been featured without repeating a guest.

What began as a way to connect people has also become something Liz hadn't necessarily anticipated: an evolving oral history of the fiber arts, preserving artists’ stories and perspectives in their own voices.

It’s another expression of something that has followed Liz throughout her career and personal life — recognizing potential, creating opportunities and bringing people together.

These days, Liz has a particularly fluffy companion helping expand that social circle.

“Violet, my 5-year-old Samoyed, is my family,” Liz says.

Violet, however, isn’t necessarily the extrovert of the household.

“She’s a bit of an introvert and loves to find a park bench — or swing — to sit on and watch the world go by,” Liz says.

She may enjoy quietly observing the action, but Violet is certainly no homebody. She has traveled to 48 states, and Liz says she gets excited as soon as she sees her suitcase.

Closer to home, Violet has introduced Liz to an unexpected community. She has a group of fellow Samoyeds, all around the same age, who regularly get together with their humans for playdates, hikes, birthday parties and events. The group has grown close enough that members even dog-sit for one another.

“It’s really become something special,” Liz says. “It’s really amazing how many dog events there are in Atlanta.”

When her schedule allows, Liz also supports the Metropolitan Atlanta Samoyed Club, organizing pack hikes and meetups.

And then there are the costumes.

Violet patiently allows Liz to dress her for holidays, resulting in numerous costume-contest victories over the years — making this month’s Halloween cover particularly fitting.

Liz describes her traditional family holidays as fairly low-key. Her mother usually comes to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, while Liz travels back to Ohio to visit her father for Christmas.

Violet’s birthday, however, is another matter entirely.

Liz typically hosts a birthday party at a local dog park for Violet, her sister and their friends.

It’s one more example of how much Violet has become intertwined with Liz’s friendships and social life — something Liz never anticipated.

One of Liz’s favorite things about Ansley Park is just how much of Atlanta she can reach on foot.

Piedmont Park tops the list.

“Piedmont Park is my favorite place in the city and part of the reason I live where I do,” she says. “Whenever I am there and look up at the Atlanta skyline, I am reminded of how grateful I am to live where I do.”

She also enjoys the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Colony Square, particularly its restaurants, with Saints + Council among her favorites.

“I love being able to walk to almost anything I want to do,” she says.

Liz attends nearly every event she can at Piedmont Park, but one is especially well suited to life with Violet: Splish Splash Doggie Bash at the Piedmont Park pool.

For all the adventures Liz has shared with Violet, one of her most treasured neighborhood memories belongs to the dog who came before her.

Liz’s previous dog, Juliet, developed arthritis as she grew older. The two found an unlikely source of comfort right in Ansley Park.

“When my last dog, Juliet, had arthritis, we would walk to the waterfall in Winn Park, and she would lie in the waterfall for an hour,” Liz recalls.

The cold water seemed to provide relief from Juliet’s pain.

“It was like a fountain of youth for her,” Liz says. “It was obvious that the cold water would take away the pain, and when she came home, she would sleep peacefully.”

It’s a simple memory, but one that captures much of what Liz loves about the neighborhood — the parks, the peaceful surroundings and the ability to find little moments of respite while living in the heart of Atlanta.

Whether the setting is a national arts organization, a neighborhood gathering or a pack of Samoyeds, there is a common thread running through Liz’s story.

“I like figuring out who should know one another and creating the opportunity for those connections to happen,” she says.

It helps explain both sides of the life she has built — the arts executive who creates programs and strengthens organizations, and the neighbor who plans gatherings, organizes pack hikes and heads off on adventures with Violet.

After nine years in Ansley Park, Liz seems to have found a community that suits both.