Office for the Arts (SOFA)

Jean and David W. Wallace Foundation Director

Leigh Fagin is the inaugural Jean and David W. Wallace Foundation Director of the Office for the Arts at Smith College. She is an interdisciplinary arts and culture producer with over 20 years of experience in arts administration and programming for arts and cultural institutions, nonprofits and higher-education spaces. Before arriving at Smith in Fall 2022, she was the Senior Director of Programming and Engagement for the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, where she worked for over 13 years providing leadership for collaborative arts projects and programs that contributed to the creative culture at the university while supporting the artistic work of students and faculty. In her role, she oversaw university arts engagement including the UChicago ArtsPass program, coordinated exhibitions, performances, artist residences and grant programs, and chaired the UChicago Arts Programming Committee.

Recent projects include Carrie Mae Weems: A Land of Broken Dreams; Hypocrisy of Justice: Sights and Sounds from the Black Metropolis; Jenny Holzer’s YOU BE MY ALLY; CinéVardaExpo - Agnès Varda in Chicago, What is an Artistic Practice of Human Rights?, Centennial Brooks, Envisioning China, a Philip Glass Residency, and Let’s Get Working: Chicago Celebrates Studs Terkel. Leigh also curated the Logan: On Display exhibitions program. During her tenure she launched the Logan Center Bluesfest and the Blues programming initiative, the Logan Collaboration Grant and the Arts & Innovation Series in collaboration with the Polsky Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and was acting Program Director of eXp, the Experimental Performance Initiative. In 2017, she oversaw the strategic planning process for the Logan Center as part of the five-year anniversary.

Prior to UChicago, Leigh worked at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, where she oversaw the DanceBridge Residency program, helped launch Chicago Artists Resource and coordinated Chicago Artists Month, which included over 220 visual arts events every year across the city. She has previously worked at MASS MoCA, The Kitchen, Performing Arts Chicago, Lucky Plush and Young Audiences/New York. She has a masters in art education from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a degree in art history from Wellesley College.

Program Manager

Shawn Reming Jr., Ph.D. is the first program manager for the Smith Office for the Arts (SOFA) at Smith College. With a background in student engagement, arts programming, and leadership development, Shawn supports faculty, students, and staff in creating and amplifying arts initiatives across campus. His work includes developing funding opportunities, piloting new arts programs, and fostering connections between students, academic departments, and community partners.

Shawn began his career in student affairs in 2014 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Pitt Serves and later served as program manager for the “Year of Creativity” and ‘Year of PittGlobal’ initiatives in the Office of the Provost, where he facilitated university-wide events and cross-disciplinary collaborations. Before joining Smith, he served as Senior Youth Programs Coordinator at the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, where he designed and implemented student programs including youth leadership workshops, conferences, and a Youth Fellowship program.

Shawn holds a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. He also earned an M.A. in history with a focus on modern Ireland, film studies, and social inequality from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in history and cultural anthropology from Saint Vincent College.

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