Associate Director of Community Arts Engagement, University of Chicago

Emily Hooper Lansana is an arts administrator, educator and performing artist. She has played a range of leadership roles. Currently she serves as the Associate Director of Community Arts Engagement for the Arts and Public Life Initiative at the University of Chicago where Social Practice Artist and Scholar Theaster Gates is the Director. The Arts and Public Life Initiative works to build community through arts and culture and is developing innovative programming across Chicago’s south side including with the Arts Incubator in Washington Park and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. Previous experience includes: Theater/Literary Arts Curriculum Supervisor, Chicago Public Schools Office of Arts Education and the Director of Education, Lincoln Center Theater. Her consulting efforts have helped to support the work of a number of institutions from The Field Museum of Natural History to eta Creative Arts Foundation. As an adjunct professor, Ms. Lansana has taught at Columbia College, the University of Chicago, DePaul University and Chicago State University. Ms. Lansana is a nationally recognized performance artist and served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Black Storytellers and as President of the Chicago Association of Black Storytellers. She received her BA in Theater Studies with a certificate in Teacher Preparation/Education from Yale University and an MA in Performance Studies from Northwestern University.