Joycelyn L. Reynolds

President and CEO

Arts Council of New Orleans dba Arts New Orleans

Joycelyn L. Reynolds, a native New Orleanian, is the President and CEO of the Arts Council of New Orleans, dba Arts New Orleans (www.artsneworleans.org). Joycelyn is a well-known, respected local and national arts leader and has been an art administrator with Arts New Orleans for over 30 years.

Arts New Orleans has thrived under Joycelyn's leadership, continuing its valuable service to the New Orleans arts and cultural community while expanding its ambitious programming giving more financial support and opportunities for artists and artwork presentations. Arts New Orleans is the leading arts advocacy organization in the GNO area.

Under her direction, the monthly Arts Markets were expanded to include a new location in City Park and continued in its traditional Marsalis Harmony Park. LUNA Fête Art, Light, and Technology Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2023, shining for four evenings, December 7 – 10th from 6 – 10 pm, along the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center's Pedestrian Park. Arts New Orleans's gala, The LUNA Ball, is scheduled on Saturday, December 9, 2023. Black. Mardi Gras Indian Queens and Black Fashion Designers were commissioned to create and display light-up suits and unique fashions showcased at LUNA Fete in 2022.

Artwork commissions increased, resulting in sculptures along Convention Center Boulevard, murals in the New Orleans Arts District and New Orleans East, and 96 artworks were produced for the Four Seasons Hotel by Arts New Orleans' youth artist mentoring program. Many other public art projects have been developed or are currently in development.

Reynolds has overseen the growth of its Youth Arts Movement (YAM) Program, which pays youth stipends to create community programs under the guidance of local professional artists. Arts New Orleans has a YAM Diversion Program, a partnership with the District Attorney's Office, and works with youth in New Orleans' locked Juvenile Intervention Justice Center.

Reynolds has worked to increase local artist Investment. Arts New Orleans was recently awarded a half-million dollars from CARE ACT funds from the National Endowment for the Arts to regrant to local non-profit arts organizations providing operating funds through 2023. City funds for public art have increased under Reynolds' leadership, which resulted in a recent purchase of significant artworks from and commissions to BIPOC artists for the City's Public Art Collection. Diversity and inclusion practices continue to be a priority under Reynolds' leadership.

Joycelyn and her husband are homeowners who live in the Gentilly area of New Orleans. They have raised three successful daughters, a software engineer who lives in San Francisco, a middle daughter who is a Ph.D. student at Tulane University, and the youngest, an opera singer who lives in Chicago.