Succeeding Founder and Long-Term Leader Christine Goodman

JERSEY CITY, NJ, January 27, 2017 – Meredith Burns has been named Executive Director of Art House Productions effective February 13. A Jersey City resident and volunteer for Art House INKubator, Burns joins the organization from Brooklyn’s New Voices Middle School, where she has led an arts-based, after-school program for 200+ children since 2013. She succeeds Christine Goodman, who is stepping down 15 years after founding the highly regarded nonprofit arts organization to spend more time with her family.

 

An actress whose performing career spans Off-Broadway, regional theater, stand-up and sketch comedy, as well as independent film, Burns also has deep experience leading nonprofit arts organizations with performance, education and community service missions. Before joining New Voices, Burns founded and served as managing director of Glass Bandits Theater Company in Brooklyn for five years. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the State University of New York in Purchase.

“Meredith brings a rich combination of skills and professional experience that will help us establish deeper and broader roots in Jersey City and serve the highly diverse needs of everyone who make Jersey City special,” said David Gibson, president of Art House’s Board of Trustees. “Having founded, secured funding for, and led community-based performing and arts-education organizations through varying levels of organizational maturity, Meredith is highly qualified to lead Art House and build on the solid foundation that Christine created.”

“Art House has held a special place in my heart since I moved to Jersey City,” Burns said. “Although much of my professional life has been in Brooklyn, I have enjoyed my volunteer work with INKubator immensely. When I considered the Board’s offer to lead Art House, I realized it was an opportunity to bring together all aspects of my artistic, personal and professional lives, and I’m excited to nurture and grow what Christine has so lovingly built.”

“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, and believe Meredith is the best person to shepherd Art House through its next phase of development,” Goodman said. “Art House began as an informal gathering of poets and Jersey City residents who used art and dialogue to help heal a devastated community. Through the dedication and support of hundreds of artists and many more volunteers, it has grown into a vibrant community focused on cultivating artists in Jersey City, showcasing visual and performing arts and creating greater understanding of one another.”

Goodman worked closely with Gibson, Art House’s Board and its Search Committee to identify a successor to lead the organization. Under her leadership, Art House matured, becoming a leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with highly successful and expanding programs and budgets, funded by private corporate and public donations, sponsorships, and grants. Goodman founded Art House shortly after September 11, 2001, when as a young actress, artist, writer and community advocate she realized there were no dedicated performance venues for artists in Jersey City to meet one another and share work. 

About Art House Productions

Through accessible, multi-disciplinary initiatives, Art House Productions produces high-quality visual and performing arts programs, provides arts-education programs for life-long learning, and celebrates the power of the arts to illuminate our common humanity. Since its inception in 2001, Art House has influenced the advancement of the arts community and acted as a pioneering force for the arts in Jersey City. In 2007, Art House was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and received a Key to the City for outstanding contributions to Jersey City.

Art House Productions is located at 136 Magnolia Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306.

 

CRYSTAL DAVIS
Assistant to the Executive Director, Art House Productions
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Art House Productions

136 Magnolia Ave

Jersey City, NJ  07306
t. (201) 915-9911
w. www.arthouseproductions.org

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