On March 1, 2018 the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts announced the appointment of Leigh Fagin as Deputy Director of Programming and Engagement. Fagin is the first to hold this role.

“Leigh is a terrific colleague, mentor and partner,” said Bill Michel, Executive Director of UChicago Arts and the Logan Center. “I look forward to her leadership as we work together with our partners to ensure that the Logan Center continues to be a vital arts center that creates meaningful impact.”

Fagin will play a crucial part in leading efforts to ensure that the Logan Center inspires discovery through high-quality, transformative arts experiences that are developed in partnership with talented and accomplished artists and colleagues from across the University, the South Side of Chicago, and beyond.

Leigh Fagin at the 2017 Logan Center Bluesfest. Photo by Michael Jackson. 

“Having been with the Logan Center since it was a hole in the ground, I feel privileged to have been a part of all we have accomplished since opening five years ago” said Fagin. “It is an honor to continue in this new role, deepening that work and building upon our successes to develop and strengthen programs and partnerships on and off-campus that align with our strategic goals.”

In this new role, Fagin will provide senior leadership for the Logan Center’s programming and engagement efforts, working in alliance with the organization’s many programming partners to enhance collaboration across all public programs. Fagin will continue to oversee the Logan Center’s University Arts Engagement area supporting student and faculty work across artistic disciplines, where she previously held the role of Associate Director. In order to build and strengthen programming relationships among the many arts initiatives across the University, Fagin will partner with Michael Christiano, Deputy Director and Curator of Public Practice at the Smart Museum of Art, to co-lead the UChicago Arts Programming group.

Fagin will also provide strategic leadership to the Logan Center’s communications and audience engagement efforts, working closely with Ronia Holmes, Associate Director of Communications for UChicago Arts and the Logan Center, to broaden audiences, enhance visitor experience and deepen patron engagement with, and visibility for, the arts at the Logan Center and throughout the University.

Finally, Fagin will co-lead with Michel the Logan Center’s strategic planning efforts, helping to ensure that the Logan Center’s next five years are as transformative as its first.

“As we look to the next five years,” said Michel. “The Logan Center will continue to serve as a hub, collaborator, and catalyst for a diverse range of arts programs that support the ambitions of the many students, faculty, artists, arts organizations, and other partners with which we work while engaging an ever-broadening set of audiences.”

Fagin joined the staff of the Logan Center in 2010, having previously worked at Chicago’s Department of Culture Affairs (now DCASE) on programs and projects such as Chicago Artists Month, Chicago Artists Resource (CAR), the Arts Engagement Exchange (AAE), and the DanceBridge Residency Program. Prior to arriving in Chicago, Leigh worked at Young Audiences/NYC, providing all five boroughs with teaching artists and residency programs in multiple arts disciplines, and at MASS MoCA as an arts management fellow, focusing on performance programs and the establishment of a site-specific dance residency honoring the histories of the buildings where the museum is housed.

Over the last eight years, Fagin has worked closely with faculty, staff, students, and city-wide colleagues in developing and leading highly successful collaborative programs including the three-day festival Let’s Get Working: Chicago Celebrates Studs Terkel, the four-months long Envisioning China: A Festival of Arts and Culture, and three-day Centennial Brooks conference, part of Chicago’s city-wide celebration of the poet Gwendolyn Brooks. She coordinates exhibitions, performances, and artists' residencies and a wide range of multidisciplinary initiatives on campus, focusing on building partnerships among community partners, Chicago cultural institutions, and local artists.  Fagin has overseen Logan Center Jazz and Blues Programming, including vision, programming, and partnerships. This past fall, Fagin launched the Logan Center Bluesfest, which welcomed over 2,000 audience members of all ages to enjoy a weekend of concerts, workshops, and community programs.  Fagin encouraged stronger connections with organizations across Chicago, leading the development of the UChicago ArtsPass program, which provides University students with access to Chicago’s arts and cultural organizations.  Fagin has also partnered with a number of city-wide festivals from the World Music Festival to the Chicago International Puppet Festival, ensuring that the Logan Center contributes to the vibrant cultural community in Chicago.

“Much of the success of the Logan Center’s distinctive approach to supporting artistic practice is the result of Leigh’s ability to bring people with diverse perspectives together to create dynamic arts experiences,” said Michel “I can’t wait to see what she makes possible next.”

To learn more about the Logan Center visit logancenter.uchicago.edu