(May 15th 2023) Erie, PA - Erie Arts and Culture announces that Anne O'Dell has committed to leading the organization forward into its next era of service to the City of Erie, and the region, as Executive Director, building upon key initiatives and strengthening relationships with community partners. Working together with Board Chair Tauna Hunter and the Board's Executive Committee, O'Dell has accepted the charge to provide sustainability to EAC's mural project and programs supporting the local arts and creative economies, reignite and maintain strong connections with community partners, and equitably support the region's arts and culture communities. O'Dell will steward Erie Arts and Culture with consistent and inclusive leadership, fiscal responsibility and sustainability, and the ability to build consensus among multiple stakeholders as EAC launches into its next chapter.
Throughout her fourteen-year career, Anne O'Dell has stewarded resources so that people thrive. O'Dell's work in grant making, community building, and programming as Vice President, Programs and Operations of the Workhouse Arts Center; Director, Events and Public Space Activations for the City of Alexandria, VA; and Programs Manager of Arlington County Cultural Affairs; as well as her previous positions in universities connecting artists and students with professional development opportunities, fine-tuned her skills in leading people to coalesce around a shared vision and together create the path forward to bring that vision into reality. O'Dell is a trusted resource-connector and is passionate about providing the resources organizations and people need and want to thrive in the lives they envision for themselves.
"I recognize the strength each person and each community has within them," shared O'Dell. "Erie, and the surrounding region, are filled with energy and creativity that strengthens the entire northwestern part of Pennsylvania, and contributes to the vitality of the Commonwealth. I feel the energy of these people and places. I cannot wait to meet all of our community partners to continue on the path forward in service to the arts and culture sector and our communities as a whole. I am honored to be trusted with this position and these resources, and will continue to hold community as the central focus of all that EAC does."
Tauna Hunter, Board Chair, shared, “Erie Arts and Culture is thrilled to welcome Anne to Erie and to our thriving arts community. The organization is looking forward to where Anne will lead us in the next part of our artistic journey.”
“As Erie Arts and Culture carries out its mission to serve as the region's grant-maker for the arts and culture sector, we focus our energies on continuing to visually enhance our community, building the capacity for a multitude of artists from Erie and beyond, expanding programming to assist artists with networking as well as offering educational programming for life-long learning and preserving the many diverse cultures that Erie serves. The thread that binds us is a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in all art forms and for both artists and arts organizations.”
Anne O’Dell will begin working remotely with Erie Arts and Culture May 19, and will arrive in Erie at the beginning of June in time for the Views Festival, taking place June 1-13.
