OAEA Fellow and Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Elected Board Chair of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

Members of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) elected Ohio Arts Council (OAC) Executive Director Donna S. Collins as chair of its board of directors on Oct. 23, 2023. Collins will serve a two-year term as NASAA board chair while continuing to lead the OAC. Immediately prior, she served two, three-year terms on the board as a member, two of those years as NASAA board secretary.  NASAA is a national, not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to strengthen the nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies. NASAA board positions are unpaid.  "I look forward to working in partnership with Chair Donna Collins and the rest of NASAA’s new board leadership," said NASAA President and CEO Pam Breaux. "These talented leaders bring a breadth of experience and perspectives, deep commitments to serving the public, and authentic passion for the arts. We are eager to get started with this new team and welcome their expertise and guidance." OAC Chair Ginger Warner said, “Donna works tirelessly to bolster public support for the arts, find new efficiencies, continuously improve arts grants and programs, and reach more Ohioans through expanded access to the arts. I am excited for her to take on a new leadership role with NASAA, which is one of the most important organizations working nationally to strengthen the arts and cultural sector.” Collins said, “I am humbled to be elected to this position by my peers at state arts agencies across the country. The OAC has earned a national reputation for excellence, just as NASAA does an outstanding job to empower state arts agencies like Ohio’s through knowledge, representation, and community. I am excited to deepen my service to all those endeavoring to bring the arts and culture to life.” Since becoming its executive director in 2014, Collins has led the OAC to expand its funding to reach all 88 counties, worked to grow public funding for the arts in Ohio to a historic high, and redesigned the OAC’s arts education programs to greatly enhance teaching artist residencies to benefit Ohio’s schoolchildren. Prior to the OAC, Collins served as the executive director of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE) from 1998-2014 and as the executive director of the Ohio Citizens for the Arts and Foundation (OCA) from 2001-2014. More extensive biographic information for Collins follows.
 
ABOUT DONNA S. COLLINS
Donna S. Collins serves as the executive director of the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Collins brings more than 30 years of experience in leading a state agency and statewide non-profit organizations, demonstrating consistent success and solid results that impact policy, education, economic development, and arts and culture. At the state level, Collins serves as co-chair of the Ohio Advisory Group of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; is a member of the Ohio Women’s Suffrage Monument Commission; is a committee chair for the America 250/Ohio Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial; is a fellow with the Ohio Art Education Association (OAEA); and is an Ohio Commodore by appointment of former Governor John R. Kasich. Collins served as the Schwartz Leader-In-Residence (LIR) at Marietta College for the 2016-2017 academic year. Collins currently serves on NASAA's Development Committee and has also served on the Awards and Dues Task Forces. At the national level, Collins is former chair of the Kennedy Center National Leadership Committee. She also served as an Americans for the Arts (AFTA) state captain and a State Arts Action Network chair and member, as well as chair of the Arts Education Council. Collins has received the Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award from AFTA; Distinguished Fellow and Arts Administration Awards from the OAEA; VSA Ohio’s (now Art Possible Ohio) Fran Bay Award; and executive director recognition from the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network; she has been inducted into the Ohio Educational Theatre Association’s Hall of Fame; and received the McDonough Award for Excellence in Leadership from Marietta College.
​
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF STATE ARTS AGENCIES
Founded in 1968, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization. In collaboration with the nation's 56 state and jurisdictional arts councils, we advance the arts as a powerful path to economic prosperity, rural resilience, good health, education success and strong communities in which everyone thrives. NASAA serves as a clearinghouse for data and research about public funding for the arts as well as the policies and programs of state arts agencies. For more information about NASAA and the work of state arts agencies, visit nasaa-arts.org.