By VOICE-TRIBUNE • Photos by Matt Johnson
In this Q&A, we sit down with Angela Hagan, the new executive director of Louisville Visual Art (LVA), to explore her journey, vision, and passion for the arts. With deep roots in the Midwest and a long-standing connection to Louisville, Hagan’s background in urban and public affairs complements her enthusiasm for fostering vibrant communities through art. As a seasoned nonprofit leader and advocate for community health, she brings fresh energy to LVA, aiming to create inclusive spaces and champion underrepresented artists. Here, she shares her insights on leadership, collaboration, and the future of LVA in Louisville’s thriving arts ecosystem.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your personal background?
I grew up in deep southeastern Illinois, where my parents still live. After college at the University of Illinois, I looked at Louisville for graduate school because my father, Ron Stallings, had graduated from UofL and played basketball on the 1972 Final Four team. Aside from a short stint from 2003-2006 where my husband, Ken, and I were in Illinois, I’ve made Louisville my home since I moved here for graduate school in 1997. Ken and I were introduced by his college friend Josh who was in one of my classes. We became friends and finally started dating in 1999 and got married in 2000. A few years later Josh was introduced to one of my childhood friends, Ginger, and they got married. Now we’re all business partners in the guys’ Left Bank bourbon venture.
Ken and I have two children, Bel (18), a freshman at University of Cincinnati, and Audrey (16), a junior at Atherton High School. We live in the Cherokee Triangle but previously lived in Indian Hills, Old Louisville, and Germantown.
I love Louisville and all its neighborhoods, its arts and culture, and the general friendliness. We have a real treasure in this community. As a “city doctor,” (PhD in Urban & Public Affairs), I am keenly interested in the ecosystem that contributes to healthy, vibrant, thriving places. That includes factors like housing, transportation, social connections, food systems, education, parks, and of course the arts! Throughout my 20+ year career, I’ve worked in several of those spaces either directly or as a volunteer/board member.
What inspired you to return to the nonprofit arts sector after your time at Humana?
After close to 10 years at Humana, most of it working in community health and health equity, but a bit removed from the operational aspects of the community-based organizations on the ground with whom we partnered, I found myself wondering what’s next for me, and “please let it be in Louisville!” I have remained involved in the nonprofit community in general as well as with KMAC and generally engaged in the art scene as a supporter and aspiring collector and have built some dear friendships because of that passion. So, it was fortuitous when I met up with former fundraising/development colleague Lisa Resnik, who was working with the LVA Board to recruit an executive director, and she encouraged me to submit and interview. I suppose it was meant to be?
What are your main priorities for Louisville Visual Art as the new executive director?
I think about our work in three main buckets of mission: art education; support the growth and development of emerging and established Louisville visual artists; and promote public art as an integral part of community health and vibrancy. In the coming year, we have a couple of key objectives in those buckets:
Celebrate the 100th year of fine art classes for children and youth through what we call our “Children’s Fine Art Classes” program that takes places in schools and neighborhood centers throughout the Louisville area, both in and out of school times. We’re hoping to get in touch with more people who participated as youth. Some people might not have known what it was called but were in classes and camps. Our Board’s very own Lucie Stansbury is one! Not everyone who took the classes works in art, but I’ll bet that experience with art helps with creative problem solving in their fields today.
Finishing out our building on Lytle Street in the Portland neighborhood! As one of the early pioneers in this area, I’m excited by the investment and thoughtful strategy coming together to infuse energy into this storied community. We hope to be a community hub.
Could you tell us more about the renovation plans for LVA’s multi-purpose art facility and what this will mean for the community and artists?
We will have four dedicated art classrooms, additional dedicated gallery space, meeting spaces, and more opportunities for artists’ studios. We’ll be able to host more events on -site with improved HVAC, too!
Currently, thanks to a visionary and generous donor, there’s work in progress for the exterior with the fabrication and upcoming installation of the Spark, a large paint, metal and light emitting sculpture that will extend around the corner of the building. I hope that it becomes a metaphor for what we will have when the interior is finished: a spark of imagination in our arts education; a spark helping ignite an artist’s career; a spark of light as a beacon of welcome in the neighborhood.
You’ve mentioned plans for a new strategic initiative at LVA. What areas of the organization do you see as key to evolving in order to integrate more of the arts community?
I’m still in the meet and greet and discovery phase at three weeks in, but in general I would like for us to collaborate more with other visual and performing arts organizations, to strategize and develop new programming. For example, where the different disciplines are complements. Louisville Orchestra and Louisville Ballet are moving in this way, and it helps them connect with new audiences. And specifically in the visual arts space, how do we work together to align or coordinate scheduled shows and events to maximize attendance or impact, creating energy and critical mass?
One of your goals is to broaden exposure for underrepresented artists. How do you plan to achieve this through LVA’s programming?
I think it starts with outreach. That can be as simple as using different channels of communication and different media and social outlets. It means continuing to partner and enhance partnerships with art schools, perhaps outreach at art supply stores, and attending lots of shows in smaller and/or newer galleries. And it also means asking questions, being curious, and LISTENING, and looking out for new events and art outside the mainstream. Sometimes those artists are not connected to galleries and are working to create a social media following or are known in smaller circles.
I also want to clarify when I say underrepresented, I mean a broad swath of socioeconomic groups that have not always been or felt truly included in the art world. Of course, that means Black, indigenous and other people of color. It also means people with disabilities, people who didn’t go to art school because of financial means or living in a rural area, etc.
Many people were delighted at the return of the biennial show at LVA this fall after over 10 years of not doing one. Over 50 artists’ work was represented. Large group shows and open calls for submissions, as long as we are getting the call out to more communities, can help too. We’re debriefing and planning how to prep for 2026.
Another example: Some friends and I attended the recent inaugural Artists and Afros art show at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center at 30th and Market. Shauntrice Martin, Sadiqa Reynolds, and E&S Gallery, which specializes in the work of Black artists, organized it. Clearly there is a need and demand to elevate and showcase more artists of color and create opportunities to engage with them. We want to coordinate our timing and opportunities with them next year.
How does LVA’s commitment to the Imagine Greater Louisville Cultural Plan align with your personal vision for creating a more inclusive and equitable arts scene?
We believe LVA is working to address all five of the priority areas: Access; Cultivation; Education; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and Promotion. We have a rich history in art education. We have been growing our professional development programming for artists and there is more I’d like to see us do. Our work with the Mural Arts Program has helped to create art in more places for more people. We have a relatively new program called Curate Purchase Inspire that also engages more voices and puts art in front of more people, including many historically not engaged in the arts.
You’ve mentioned that Louisville has a “related ecosystem” of people working across sectors like housing, education, and the arts. How do you plan to leverage this interconnectedness to foster greater collaboration for LVA’s future projects?
No single actor/organization has all the answers. It’s really about the community working together. In the health space, we know that where you live, work, and play every day drives the majority of your wellbeing. How do we pool human and financial capital and work together across sectors and disciplines toward a common goal of healthy, vibrant places. By each playing our part but coordinating together with achievable goals, we create real change. You can build new mixed-income housing, but without zoning that restricts the number of dollar stores and provides incentives for fresh food markets or allows for protection of some green space and trees, or doesn’t include sidewalks and lighting with aesthetic, peaceful community gathering space with art features, you’re not solving for the real problems but sticking band-aids on them. The innovators in our community are planning these things together. Look at what the Urban League has been able to achieve with thinking about creating community space, while considering transportation routes, car access, multifaceted needs like health care and meeting spaces, leverage and partner with groups like Feed the West, looking toward building community gardens, etc.
What long-term changes or initiatives would you like to see LVA undertake during your tenure as executive director?
I want to really see us lean into the access to art initiative with Our Curate Purchase Inspire program. CPI engages artists, teachers, and others who have a curatorial mindset in partnership and planning with artists and community organizations to purchase work from local artists and place site-specific art installations on permanent loan in those nonprofits. I was delighted to learn that The Cabbage Patch Settlement House, where I once worked and also served on the board, was one of those sites. We’re in our third year of the program, and I’d like to see us leverage artist and philanthropist Clare Hirn’s generous gift as the spark to endow additional funding and expand the program’s reach. We’re currently working to assess impact to date and size up future opportunities.
How has your personal background in creative arts shaped your leadership style and goals for LVA?
I’m sure my time on KMAC’s team and on the board, as well as being a life-long audience member, museum and gallery attendee, etc. feed into my empathy for artists and those working in the space. One of the things I told the team is that I don’t want to ever ask people who work in creative fields for a living to donate their work to a fundraiser event, and especially for the idea of “exposure” if they are emerging or haven’t realized their full potential. An artwork could take someone days or weeks. That really feels like taking advantage of someone, not being respectful of all that they put into it. We need to value the worth and pay the worth.
And a favorite reminder Ken always gives me: “Never conflate effort with results.” To me, that means, let’s focus on impact not output. Presence or continuing to work at a task isn’t always productivity. If we need to take a step away and regroup with more creative thinking and get it done more effectively, so be it.
As far as leadership style, I might credit my parents and my grandparents, and growing up in a small town with instilling a sense of empathy, as well as curiosity, that guide my whole life. That doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes or continue to learn and grow each day, because I do, and humility is definitely a practice each day. I try to meet people where they are and be as transparent as I’m able.
