• Programming
• Leader of the Arts

Leslie Gordon

October 2006

Gordon began her career in arts management in 1985 as the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of Savannah. She moved to Atlanta in 1992 to become one of the four producers of the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year celebration produced in conjunction with 1996 Olympic Games. In that position, Gordon developed diverse programming, including “100 Years of World Cinema” with the High Museum of Art; “American South: Past, Present, Future” with the Atlanta History Center; and “Southern Crossroads,” a 10-day Centennial Olympic Park festival, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. She also produced “The Nobel Laureates of Literature: An Olympic Gathering” at the Carter Center, which featured eight Literature Laureates and the then-U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove. Gordon also served as Artistic Director for the 1997 Arts Festival of Atlanta and, prior to joining the Rialto, as Manager of Humanities and Education for the National Black Arts Festival. She has also worked as a consultant to many area arts groups, including the Southern Arts Federation, the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs Public Art program, the Loridans/Trammel Foundations’ Theater Initiative, and the Georgia Council for the Arts.

During her tenure at the Rialto, the Center has been recognized for its distinctive programming, including its selection as “Best World Music Venue” by Creative Loafing in 2004 and being named as “where the shakers go” in Atlanta Magazine’s “Movers and Shakers” issue. Gordon is a graduate of Stanford University’s Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders in the Arts, sponsored by the Graduate School of Business at Stanford and National Arts Strategies of Washington, D.C. Gordon has served on advisory panels for the Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts Council, Southern Arts Federation and the Georgia Council for the Arts. She is a member of Arts Presenters, Americans for the Arts and serves on the Advisory Board of the Southern Arts Federation’s Emerging Arts Leaders program. She is a board member of the NAMES Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt, chairing the Development Committee. She was awarded the 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Torch of Peace Award for her outstanding contributions to intercultural relations.