Deonté Griffin-Quick joined the Artist Communities Alliance (ACA) leadership team as Managing Director of External Affairs. A New Jersey native, Deonté is a nationally recognized, award-winning actor, arts administrator and consultant with a proven track record of envisioning and implementing change at the local and regional level. Before joining ACA, Deonté served as Director of Programs and Services at New Jersey Theatre Alliance where he built lasting partnerships, led statewide initiatives, and oversaw programming to support the cultivation of 42 professional theatre companies.
As a freelance consultant, Deonté is the guest theatre curator for ArtYard in Frenchtown, NJ, an interdisciplinary alternative contemporary art center. In this role, he developed and launched their theatre residency program and supports the development of their theatre programming.
"We are beyond thrilled to have Deonté join ACA," says President and CEO Lisa Funderburke. "After finding great fundraising success in the past six years, this new role is critical for ACA. With Deonté's strong leadership and past experience in arts administration, communications, and programming, we now have added depth in our relentless pursuit to answer ACA's mission question: How do we unite the people who power residencies and unite a field?"
In an effort to connect, empower, and cultivate other arts and cultural leaders of color, in 2019 Deonté developed and spearheaded the New Jersey Arts and Culture Administrators of Color Network. He is a recipient of the inaugural Individual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the Discover Jersey Arts Leadership Award from ArtPride New Jersey, and the Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Award from the Union County Urban League of Young Professionals. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Dorill Initiative, an arts education organization based in Manhattan, NY. Deonté holds a BA in Theatre with a Communications minor from Kean University and a Masters of Science in Arts Administration at Drexel University. At Drexel, Deonte's thesis research, "Advancing Racial Equity Through Arts Service Organizations'', provided a statewide, transformative model and guide for arts service organizations and state arts agencies on how they can foster programs, services, and collaborative efforts to support their constituents in the areas of advancing racial equity and diversity.
“I am very excited to join the ACA team to support the field of artists and artist residencies. This role epitomizes many of my interests and strengths, so I look forward to contributing to the expansion of this essential organization,” says Deontè Griffin-Quick. “As an artist, administrator, and curator I understand how important the mission of ACA is to cultivate a thriving arts sector.”
More information on ACA’s staff and board is available on our website.
Click here to download the news release.