Colleen Houston Email & Phone Number

Colleen is a passionate nonprofit arts leader with more than 20 years of experience leading community-based public arts. She has served as CEO & Artistic Director at ArtWorks, in Cincinnati, Ohio, since 2020. ArtWorks creates community-based public art that provides career opportunities for artists of all ages. Colleen is deeply committed to advancing arts accessibility, equity, and inclusion. At ArtWorks, she is a driving force on initiatives that generate employment opportunities for more than 300 artists each year, with a focus on empowering young artists aged 14–24 from under-resourced communities. Colleen ensures that emerging creatives thrive and earn sustainable wages, building a strong arts ecosystem and culture for the entire city. Colleen launched ArtWorks’ groundbreaking mural program in 2007, one of the first of its kind in the nation that prioritized youth employment and community involvement. Under her leadership, this program propelled Cincinnati to win the prestigious 2010 City Livability Award at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, solidifying its reputation as a cultural destination. While at ArtWorks, she helped found BLINK, the nation’s largest light, art and projecting mapping event which generates $1.26 Million in direct economic impact. Subsequently, Cincinnati earned recognition as one of the top 20 most vibrant art and cultural cities in the SMU DataArts Arts Vibrancy Index both in 2020 and 2022. ArtWorks also helped Cincinnati garner acclaim from USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice poll – placing the Queen City in the top 10 best cities for street art in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Recently, Colleen led the ArtsVote Ohio initiative working with artists and arts organizations across the state to participate in public art to increase voting and voter registration. She is currently leading a $11.7 million campaign to renovate a historic building and vacant lot into a new creative campus in Walnut Hills, in a historically disinvested core city neighborhood. This project is a catalyst to grow an emerging arts district with an arts center for artists of all ages to expand creative workforce opportunities and employment, and features new community space for events, greenspace, public art and a unique emerging artist gallery. Colleen has a degree in Public and Social Art from Warren Wilson College and was recognized as their 2020 Distinguished Alumni honoree. Colleen serves on the boards of Creative Ohio and Leadership Council for Nonprofits. She has also served on the boards of WavePool, Mini Microcinema, and the Artery.