Kelly Strayhorn Theater Adopts Co-Leadership Model

Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) has announced it has adopted a co-leadership model, with former Deputy Director Melanie Paglia joining Executive Director Joseph Hall to guide the performing arts organization into its next era of regional and national growth.

“I often envisioned a co-leadership structure for KST,” says Hall. “When I was with BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, which has had a co-leadership structure since the 90s, I participated in a rich relationship where we collaborated, supported each other, and led the organization to great accomplishments. Melanie and I enable each other to lean into our strengths and achieve the best outcomes for KST's communities.”

Hall, who became Executive Director in March of 2020, led KST through the pandemic and shepherded the organization's ambitious 2022–25 strategic plan, Owning Our Future. Thriving Where We Live. During his tenure, KST has incubated hundreds of artists and performers, engaged local artists and community members through HomeMakers, developed a shared services model through programs like its Mutual Aid Residency with PearlArts and Dreams of Hope, revamped hallmark programming like the Suite Life jazz concert, and been recognized as a Pittsburgh Cultural Treasure by the Heinz Endowments and Ford Foundation.

Paglia joins Hall as Co-Executive Director during a landmark year. This January, KST hosted its second annual KST X NYC, an ambitious initiative to share new works commissioned and developed in Pittsburgh by KST in collaboration with national partners. These works included the New York City premieres of two dance works from Pittsburgh-based artists, slowdanger's SUPERCELL and STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos's (SPdp&SS) CIRCLES: going in. This spring, another KST-incubated project will reach national stages: Pittsburgh creator and performer Adil Mansoor's Amm(i)gone, which premiered at KST in 2022, will debut in Washington, D.C., at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

To advance KST's mission to be a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people, the co-leadership structure uses collaboration and resilience as its guiding principles.

“Our strategic vision of owning our future and thriving where we live is not just a memorable slogan—it guides every decision, from how we are structured to the artists we feature on stage,” says Hall. “Melanie has been critical to our ability to thrive during such a complicated period for the arts. Her operations expertise and caring approach to leadership have been indispensable to our success so far. As she joins me in leading KST, I look forward to sharing this vision and ensuring that we continue to model excellence, joy, and innovation in our partnership.”

Paglia was first hired by Hall in 2011 during his initial engagement with the organization. In this tenure at KST, Paglia rose through several progressive leadership roles in technical theater and general management. In 2017 she departed KST to serve as Music Hall Director at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie where she optimized rentals and programming operations and innovated outdoor, pandemic “parking lot” performances. A decade later, Hall hired Paglia a second time to return to KST as Deputy Director in 2021; since then she has restored operational systems and expanded staff capacity throughout the uncertainties of the theater's pandemic reopening. She has also been a strategic partner for Hall as KST pursues the opportunity to manifest their vision of a multidimensional arts space that meets the modern day needs of arts patrons and artists.

“KST simply would not be what it is today without Joseph's compassionate leadership, artistic brilliance, and profound love for the work,” says Paglia. “Inspired by the groundbreaking work of his predecessor, janera solomon, Joseph has built upon that foundation to further ensure a promising future. Under his guidance, KST is thriving. I am eager to embrace the collective energy of the co-leadership structure and ensure that we continue to create a home for Black and queer people in Pittsburgh.”

KST joins many other arts and nonprofit organizations in adopting the co-leadership model. This is a trend that reflects the value of collaboration within executive roles that are often described as isolating. Other arts organizations often have an Executive Director and Artistic Director, however, KST embodies the flexibility and mutuality of co-leadership.

With a unique mix of performing arts programs, collaborative organizational practices, and bold social justice engagement, KST stands out among its peers in the region as a unique model for nurturing local talent and creating a thriving infrastructure for art-making in the 21st century. As the organization continues to reimagine arts practices to meet contemporary needs and evolving audiences, KST is making structural investments to ensure its long-term success in the East Liberty neighborhood.

“One of our greatest challenges and opportunities in the coming years is the question of where KST will make its permanent home,” says Paglia. “East Liberty has always been our community, and we plan to remain here. We are exploring our options in the neighborhood to ensure that our audiences, staff, artists, and partner organizations have a physical space where they can fully thrive long into the future.”

Since becoming a presenting organization in 2008 under former Executive Director janera solomon, KST has evolved into a versatile and influential member of the Pittsburgh arts ecosystem. KST nurtures early-career artists and emerging arts groups, hosts boundary-breaking arts experiences, and upholds the historic legacy and vibrant future of Black and queer artists in Pittsburgh. KST has played a role in growing many significant artists and arts groups in the Pittsburgh region: Alumni Theater Company was a resident company at KST for years before becoming an independent nonprofit with its own venue; Staycee Pearl dance project & Soy Sos/PearlArts were founded at KST in 2009 and now are Mutual Aid Residency partners that are touring around the world; KST has incubated and presented many new performances from movement duo slowdanger, which is now touring nationally with KST's support. These collaborations reflect the vital role that KST plays in cultivating diverse local artists who tell the 21st-century story of Pittsburgh beyond the city.

“I returned to Kelly Strayhorn Theater in 2020 because I am truly inspired by KST's unique impact on both the local community and the arts on a regional and national level,” says Hall. “Now, with a co-leadership approach, we will answer the call to create KST's future state of the art space. Our goal is to provide a platform for East Liberty and beyond where artists and emerging groups will shape the story of a 21st-century Pittsburgh. Together we will Own Our Future and Thrive Where We Live.”

ABOUT THE CO-LEADERS

Joseph Hall is the Co-Executive Director of Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. Previously, as the Deputy Director of BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Hall helped expand the theater's budget and staff, forging partnerships, and raising its national profile as a BIPOC LGBTQIA+ institution. He co-curates TQ Live! at Carnegie Museum of Art, serves on the National Performance Network's Partner Advisory Council, Office for Public Arts Advisory Committee, Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting's Community Advisory Council, and PearlArts's Board of Directors. Hall has been recognized through awards such as 40 Under 40, Three Rivers Business Alliance Excellence in the Arts, and City Paper's Pittsburgh's People of the Year in Performing Arts.

Melanie Paglia is the Co-Executive Director of Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. She is a seasoned arts administrator with more than a decade of experience in theater management and community engagement. Throughout her career, Paglia has taken on progressive leadership positions in technical theater and general management. Notably, she was among the pioneering women in technical theater in the region to hold the role of Director of Production. Paglia is also a committed educator and finds fulfillment in guiding aspiring arts administrators through mentorship. Her return to KST in 2021 underscores her dedication to community enrichment and promoting inclusivity within the cultural sphere.

ABOUT KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER

Named after 20th century entertainment legends Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn, both natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people. We welcome our home to all who uplift Black, Indigenous, people of color, and queer voices.

KST is an institutional arts anchor in Pittsburgh's East End that has served the community for more than two decades. Since launching KST Presents programming in '08, KST has been Black-led, fostering radical imagination for Black and queer arts, culture, and community in Pittsburgh by cultivating BIPOC and/or queer artists, entrepreneurs, and arts administrators, developing their careers, and shifting narratives around Black possibility.

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