Christina Vassallo ’08: Shaping the Future of Arts Leadership

Written by Elva Zhang, Visual Arts Administration, ‘25

Christina Vassallo never mapped out a traditional route to museum leadership. What shaped her career instead was a willingness to follow the work that carried purpose and possibility. That instinct carried her from artist-run spaces in Queens to the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, to her brand-new role as the head of the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage in Philadelphia. Looking back, she sees her early years as guided by opportunities that aligned with her values. Her career reflects a leader shaped by artists, experimentation, and a continual openness to growth.

Christina studied art history at NYU and worked briefly in Chelsea galleries after graduation. Quickly, she realized that the for-profit side of the art world wasn’t the right fit, and she was more interested in the educational component, public engagement, and supporting the creation of new work. With that purpose in mind, she returned to NYU for the Visual Arts Administration program and focused on the nonprofit track. The program gave her the nonprofit foundation she needed, and a summer study abroad in Vienna and Utrecht expanded her understanding of how museums operate internationally. She often felt it was a missed opportunity that VAA students and MFA artists had little overlap while sharing the same building. It also affirmed how strongly she wanted to connect with artists in her professional life.

After completing her degree in 2008, Christina volunteered at the experimental art, performance, residency, and installation space Flux Factory in Queens as a curator and grant writer. When the executive director left, she recommended Christina as her successor. Christina had almost no experience running an organization, but she learned quickly through practice. Flux was small, and that allowed her to develop skills in leadership, budgeting, and working collaboratively with artists. It was an unexpected but ideal beginning.

A few years later, she was ready for new challenges. A mentor encouraged her to look beyond New York, which immediately broadened her possibilities. She soon became the Executive and Artistic Director of SPACES in Cleveland, an alternative art space roughly twice the size of Flux Factory. At the time, SPACES was preparing for a capital campaign and a major relocation. For someone who had grown up in New York, moving to Cleveland was a significant shift, and it reshaped her understanding of what an arts institution could be in a smaller city. With fewer cultural organizations sharing the landscape, contemporary art spaces carried a deeper responsibility to make a direct and lasting impact on local communities. During her time at SPACES, she oversaw work that remains among the most meaningful in her career. One of these projects, titled A Color Removed, and created with artist Michael Rakowitz. The project responded directly to the killing of twelve-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police. Residents across the city were invited to surrender orange objects, which referenced the missing safety tip on the toy gun Tamir was holding when he was killed. These objects were collected, suspended in the gallery, and accompanied by community workshops. The project created a space for mourning and reflection, and this participatory project reinforced Christina’s belief in the ability of contemporary art to hold complex emotions and foster collective dialogue.

After six years in Cleveland, Christina moved to Philadelphia to lead the renowned Fabric Workshop and Museum, an institution four times the size of SPACES. It was an exciting step into a larger city and a bigger organization. Only two months after she arrived, however, the city shut down due to COVID. She guided the museum through closures and uncertainty, kept her staff employed, and helped redirect the institution at a moment when many arts organizations struggled. The experience deepened her understanding of advocacy, which she now sees as a constant responsibility for her as an arts leader. As she reflects, “I learned that if we stand still, resources will easily and quickly be relocated outside of our industry.” For her, arts leadership requires staying active and vocal, especially in difficult times.

Christina’s next opportunity came from the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, a non-collecting museum that focuses on current, often newly commissioned art and is responsive to the world around it. She had long admired CAC for its bold history of defending artistic freedom, particularly during the Robert Mapplethorpe controversies of the 1990s. Taking the role felt like stepping into a lineage of leaders who stood with artists and embraced difficult public conversations. Because the institution occupies a large building, Christina began rethinking how to use the space more creatively through cross-disciplinary programming. The theater now hosts film, dance, theater, and other performance-based work, and the museum regularly partners with grassroots organizations that lack spaces of their own. She wants the CAC to serve as a launchpad for smaller organizations, including through initiatives like Ohio Now, a new triennial developed in collaboration with moCA Cleveland that brings together artists from across the state.

As she steps into her new role, fostering arts and culture grants for the Pew in Philadelphia, Christina is committed to keeping artists at the center while strengthening community relationships, especially in a political and cultural climate full of uncertainty today. She believes one of the essential responsibilities of an arts institution is to sustain connection and foster genuine dialogue. Her leadership focuses on long-term institutional sustainability as well as the everyday work of supporting real conversations within the community. As a VAA graduate, she carries forward the values that first drew her to nonprofit work and shaped her understanding of what it means to lead with purpose. She remains guided by passion and openness, and she believes that contemporary art can spark dialogue and build connections across diverse communities.