Joan Mitchell Foundation Announces Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

The Joan Mitchell Foundation is thrilled to announce the appointment of Christa Blatchford as their Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2015. Christa returns to the Foundation after serving as its Deputy Director, bringing with her many years of leadership and arts programming experience. As CEO, Christa and the Board of Directors will direct the vision of the Foundation, as well as oversee the programming, administration and operations of the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s two New York City locations, the home office and the newly opened Education & Research Center, as well as the Joan Mitchell Center, an artist residency center in New Orleans, LA.

A visual artist herself, Christa has been dedicated to the support of visual artists throughout her career. Prior to serving as the Foundation’s Deputy Director, Christa was the Artist Support Director for the Foundation, overseeing such national programs as Creating a Living Legacy (CALL). Before joining the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Christa spent three years as a Program Officer at the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), working to provide a variety of professional development opportunities for artists. She has also worked with a range of non-profit visual arts organizations including Minetta Brook and Eyebeam. At Minetta Brook she worked on critically acclaimed programs such as Robert Smithson’s Floating Island to Travel Around Manhattan Island. Christa Blatchford received her Masters degree in Fine Arts from Hunter College in 2005, taught at Hunter’s Undergraduate Art Department, and has shown her artwork throughout New England. Christa resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two children.

“I am honored to have another opportunity to work with the Joan Mitchell Foundation and its extraordinary staff to implement the mission of supporting individual visual artists and promoting the legacy of Joan Mitchell,” says Christa. “I believe the Joan Mitchell Foundation distinguishes itself from other artist-endowed foundations with the depth of its commitment to individual artists by providing programming and grants to support artists throughout their lifetimes. In addition, I see the the Foundation's commitment to diversity and equity in the arts as profoundly important and essential in keeping the art world relevant.”

President of the Board of Directors, Alejandro Anreus, Ph.D., states, “The Board of Directors and staff of the Joan Mitchell Foundation could not be more excited with the appointment of Christa Blatchford as our CEO. We believe that her leadership will continue the Foundation’s impressive legacy of support to visual artists, as well as expand on its vision and values to direct the Foundation into its next phase, deepening its impact on the national arts community, advocating for artists, and guiding new initiatives as a private operating foundation.”

Please join the Board of Directors and staff of the Joan Mitchell Foundation in welcoming Christa Blatchford on board as Chief Executive Officer.

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