As executive director of New Mexico Arts—New Mexico’s federally authorized state arts agency—Michelle works to develop creative ideas to strengthen, evolve, and diversify programs at the agency while forging new partnerships to address the changing needs of artists and arts organizations across the state. With a focus on better serving rural and other historically underserved and excluded communities, Michelle and the New Mexico Arts team explore innovative ways to address issues of access and equity in their grantmaking, public art programming, and field capacity building efforts.
An arts administrator for over 20 years in both the private and public sector, Michelle has recently become involved in arts advocacy at a national level. Her personal creative practices include writing poems and spinning fresh beats as a local radio DJ. She holds a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts, an MA from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, and hopes someday to complete her MFA in creative writing at the University of Texas, El Paso.