Artist Relations Manager Christiane Leach Steps Down After 15 Years with the Arts Council

June 30, 2021 – Christiane Leach, artist relations manager, will be leaving the Arts Council after 15 years of dedicated service to the arts community. Join us in celebrating Christiane’s career and community impact.

“Christiane was the first new employee hired at the then newly created Arts Council. She brought energy, passion, and a keen understanding of Pittsburgh’s arts community and the needs of its artists. Her successes are many and we are fortunate to have had her for nearly 15 years. We wish her all the best in her new endeavors.

-- Mitch Swain, CEO

Christiane began her career at the Arts Council in 2006 as an executive assistant and Office Manager. By 2011, Christiane transitioned into a role created just for her, and one that is unique to most arts councils, artist relations manager. In this role, she offered personalized consulting and technical assistance to help artists achieve their goals by brokering services, networks, opportunities, and resources for artists in need. Her years of service to the Arts Sector has been dedicated to increasing engagement and support of typically underserved artists, especially people of color and women.

Christine Leach — Photo by Zoltan Weslowski

Here are just a few of the landmark programs led by Christiane during her time at the Arts Council:

The Art on the Walls program, created in collaboration with colleague Dek Ingraham, which recently celebrated 10 years of exhibitions that feature emerging and midcareer artists in the Arts Council’s offices and business offices across the city. Art on the Walls has participated in over 36 Gallery Crawls, exhibited the work of over 100 artists, and sold $ 70,000 worth of artwork.
The Emergency Fund for Artists offers financial support to artists who have experienced theft, fire, flood, accident, or other unforeseen circumstances that impact their ability to create their work. The establishment of this fund by Christiane became pivotal during the early months of the pandemic in 2020.
The Artist Resource Fair brought together funding opportunities and resources for artists, co-presented with the Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation.
In 2013, Christiane spearheaded the Health and Housing Fair for Artists, also known as HE-HO, which was the Arts Council’s first event that focused solely on health and housing issues of its artist community. HE-HO has since become national tool kit listed on Springboard for the Arts website.
With the collaboration of musician Heather Kropff, the Fair Play Pittsburgh Music initiative brought together musicians in Pittsburgh to discuss the state of the music ecosystem through listening sessions. Key findings can still be found in the Pittsburgh Music Ecosystem Study.

Christiane is a fearless advocate for all artists, creatives, and teachers in the Pittsburgh area. Christiane’s last day with the Arts Council is Friday, July 2, 2021. But she’s not going anywhere! She is working at the Pittsburgh International Airport’s Art in the Airport program as their technical assistant of arts and culture.

You can stay connected with Christiane at: Cleach@Flypittsburgh.com or ChristianeDolores@noboxengagements.com.