About Us

Chris Chalupsky oversees the Arts Program at San Diego International Airport with a focus on developing programming and partnerships with artists and arts organizations in the San Diego community. With over fifteen years of experience in cultural arts and entertainment programming, including record label roles in the music industry of Los Angeles, Chalupsky joined the Arts Program at SAN in 2016 from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. At DCASE he curated and produced many of the city’s largest and most well-known performing arts programs, concert series, and summer festivals, while being a central civic liaison for the artistic community of the city. At SAN Chalupsky’s main mission is to help enrich the experience, and thus the lives, of airport patrons through collaborative arts programming of the highest caliber. He is a Minnesota native and an art creator himself, being a songwriter and a musician.

Lauren Lockhart leads the airport’s efforts to realize ambitious public artworks which are seamlessly integrated into the airport environment. She is also responsible for organizing timely, thematic exhibitions in the terminals that engage community partners from throughout the region. Through her work on public art, temporary exhibitions, and performing arts programming, Lockhart continually aspires to communicate meaningful stories of San Diego’s history, culture and people to the traveling public.

Lockhart is an arts administrator and curator with nearly fifteen years of experience collaborating closely with artists. Before joining the Airport Authority, Lockhart was an independent curator and held positions at the New Children’s Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and National Gallery of Art. She is co-chair of the Public Art Coalition of Southern California, and serves on the Public Art Committee for the Port of San Diego.

Joey Herring works with local, regional and national artists and arts organizations to curate exhibitions throughout the airport environment. He is also responsible for coordinating and curating the performing arts programming, including the Airport’s annual Performing Arts Residency Program.

Herring has more than 10 years professional experience, curating numerous exhibitions and public programs. Before joining the Airport, Herring held positions at Tate Modern, The Courtauld Gallery, The San Diego Museum of Art, the University of California San Diego and the Museum of Photographic Arts. He received his M.A. with Merit from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London and his B.A. summa cum laude in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego.

Tony Almanza has worked for the Airport Authority for over 10 years and joined the Arts Program team in 2017. He previously held the position of the Airport’s Lead Painter within the Facilities Management Department. Almanza brings with him a vast knowledge of the Airport which enables him to coordinate with colleagues across all divisions and departments of the Authority in order to implement arts programming. Almanza continues to take art history classes, and enjoys visiting museums in his spare time.