We are delighted to hear from Art History alum Leslie Taylor Liberato, JMU Class of 1993, who is now completing her fourteenth year of service at the National Endowment for the Arts/NEA in Washington, D.C.. The NEA is an independent federal agency that funds and promotes artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. Since 2011 Leslie has served in the NEA’s Grants and Contracts Office as a Final Reports Officer, overseeing the completion and public reporting of NEA funding projects across the arts. Before holding her current office, Leslie was the NEA’s National Initiatives Program Manager running a number of major initiatives, including Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest for high school students; and Shakespeare in American Communities, which has supported thousands of performances of Shakespeare nationwide. Having made military base connections with Shakespeare, Leslie initiated one of the NEA’s most unusual initiatives, Great American Voices, which brought opera companies to perform at nearly 40 military bases. Prior to joining the NEA’s staff, Leslie earned her Master’s degree in Art History at The George Washington University in 1997. Following her graduate studies, Leslie served as Assistant (1997-2000) to J. Carter Brown, Director Emeritus of the National Gallery of Art . In this role she assisted Mr. Brown with research and public outreach in his continuing service to the National Gallery of Art, as well as in his other duties as Chairman of the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts; as Chairman of OVATION, The Arts Network; and as Chairman of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize committee. At JMU, Leslie enjoyed especially her classes in museum studies and 19th and 20th century art. Two favorite experiences include working with Stuart Downs to install an exhibition of Elizabeth Murray prints at Sawhill Gallery and a May Session art history tour of France with Dr. Martha Caldwell.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 10:05:49 +0000
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