Welcome New Program Director, Kelsey!

Youth in Arts welcomed our wonderful new Program Director, Kelsey Rieger earlier this month. Kelsey has served as a community gallery manager, museum educator, and volunteer teacher. Most recently she was the Curator of Education at the Palmer Museum at Penn State University, where she received her Masters in Arts Education.
Thanks to her parents, Kelsey, a Southern California native, grew up with excellent access to the arts. “I was fortunate enough to have been gifted access to cultural institutions and the arts from a very young age, granting me entry into the perspectives, values, and aesthetics of people I had never met and places I had never been.” She explains, “I took art lessons every week, learned to play musical instruments, and spent weekends attending theatrical performances because my parents felt that this exposure would help me grow into a compassionate and capable adult. The arts were ingrained in every aspect of my life, and from these experiences I learned the value and humanity of creativity.” Recognizing that although her arts education was plentiful, many others’ is scarce, eventually led Kelsey to pursue a career in the field, “With time and perspective, I have grown to realize that my upbringing was a wonderfully privileged one and that many people suffer from inequitable access to arts resources across the country and throughout the world. It was this increased awareness and a deep-seated desire to provide every child with the same opportunities to grow with the arts that I had, which ultimately led me to my profession as an arts educator.”
Her drive to bring all arts to all students, makes her a fantastic fit for the role of Program Director. “I have always believed that at its core, art is a malleable and necessary discipline that helps us investigate, interpret, and engage with the world around us. Having worked closely with students in the process of creative expression and interpretation, I’ve witnessed the subtle power of the arts in promoting open mindedness and inspiring innovation as well as confidence in our youth and within society.” Acknowledging that arts education is too often undervalued, Kelsey passionately asserts that we need to do more, “Arts Education Administrators, community members, artists, and educators must work collaboratively across the institutional board to provide supplemental programming that is both accessible and relevant to students and people of all backgrounds. It is this need that initially interested me in the important work that Youth in Arts is doing, and I look forward to the opportunity to help propel their programs forward for the benefit of the community and the voices of our future generations.”
Though she doesn’t call herself an artist, Kelsey creates, and has long felt connected to the arts, “I have deep respect and admiration for the work that artists do. Having worked closely with many gifted artists devoted to creating and sharing their work with the world, I have never quite considered myself to be an artist. However, I was formally trained in the fine arts and have always found comfort in drawing and mixed-media sculpture. I enjoy the journey of making art and rely on it as a means of keeping my life balanced and healthy.”
We are thrilled to have Kelsey join our team. Her enthusiasm for her work is palpable, “I hope to find effective ways to apply my experience in public programming, community engagement, curriculum development, and evaluative research in order to keep growing YIA’s reach within the community!”
Thank you, Kelsey!