Celebrating Leadership at Artist Trust!

---

The Artist Trust team poses outside Good Voyage in South Park, Seattle. Back row L to R: Nadia Ahmed, Brian Vu, Kristina Goetz, Justine Deacon, Grace Nakahara; Front row: Luther Hughes, Gems, Lydia Boss. Photo by Brad Curran.

The Artist Trust Board of Trustees is excited to share that Kristina Goetz has officially been named Executive Director after serving as Acting Executive Director since September 2020. She stepped into that role during a particularly challenging time, demonstrating courage, humility, and strong leadership. Her dedication and leadership have helped steward a new culture at Artist Trust that emphasizes collaboration, care, trust, and joy, and has created important space to make bold changes that better serve our artists, community, and each other.  

This appointment is the result of a comprehensive evaluation and decision-making process centered on the organization’s new values. The Board is grateful to the entire Artist Trust staff for actively participating in this important decision. 

Kristina is the right leader at this pivotal time. She has been a passionate advocate for Artist Trust since she began her work there seven years ago. She brings extensive experience that will build on Artist Trust’s momentum as an organization actively working to advance racial equity and elevate artists as leaders that create a healthy, just, and vibrant Washington State. She sees Artist Trust as an integral part of creating and sustaining a people-centered arts community. She has a passion for and background in an array of artistic disciplines including visual art, performing arts, and music, and a deep connection to Washington State’s diverse artist communities. 

In addition to Kristina’s role shift, we want to celebrate the following promotions made in our staff this year: Gems is Finance and Operations Director; Justine Deacon is Annual Giving and Events Director; and Lydia Boss and Luther Hughes are Program Co-Directors. We are proud to recognize our current team as part of our journey to becoming an organization where everyone leads.

With this team in place, Artist Trust is in a strong and stable position to deliver on our mission while continuing to do transformational work. Please join us in celebrating Kristina’s appointment and the incredible future that lies ahead for Artist Trust! 

In community, 

The Artist Trust Board of Trustees  

Mariella Luz, President  

Nicole Stellner, Vice President  

Lee Campbell, Secretary 

Will Chapman, Treasurer  

Cezanne Garcia, Immediate Past President  

Dawn Barron  

Ginger Ewing  

Anthony Gipe  

Amanda Jackson Mott

Aaron Jin 

Kurt Kiefer  

Marge Levy 

Joseph Sunga 

Elizabeth Weaver 

Gerard Zytnicki  

PS – Thank you for being in community with us! To find out more about our work over the past two years, take a look at our impact reports from 2021 and 2020, and read our new organizational values. We’ll have many more updates to come! 

---