Bye-Bye Cindy!

Cindy Ornstein, Director of Arts and Culture, Retires After 13 Years Leaving Legacy of Artistic Growth in Mesa

June 14, 2023 at 11:58 am
After 13 years as the City of Mesa’s Director of Arts and Culture and Executive Director of Mesa Arts Center, Cindy Ornstein is retiring from the City of Mesa. 

Her last day in the office will be June 29. As department director, Ornstein...

Her retirement marks the end of an era characterized by immense growth and artistic engagement in Mesa and the wider community. In retirement, Ornstein looks forward to relaxation, travel, more time with family and many new adventures.

A national search is in process for Ornstein's successor. 
Until that person begins their tenure, interim management has been named from the department's senior leadership, with Ornstein's duties to be split between two people,  

• Assistant Director of Arts and Culture -- Operations and Administration Illya Riske will serve as Interim Arts and Culture Director and Deputy Director of Mesa Arts Center -- 
• Visual Arts and Engagement/Education Mandy Tripoli will serve as Interim Director of Mesa Arts Center.

Read more > https://mesanow.org/news/public/article/3160

 "My view of the arts is that it is fantastic to offer exhibitions and performances... but that if you don't look to figure out how you create accessible points for all different people, if you don't figure out how to welcome the community in and give them ownership over some of the programming, if you don't make sure there are different ways for people from different ways and walks of life than you end up not serving the community needs as you should." 

One of the architects of the project, Michael Tingley, explains the larger implications of the center, 

• "A fundamental strategy for the Mesa Arts Center project was to create a new image and identity for the city of Mesa in the twenty-first century that would spur economic investment in the downtown core.  
• Transitioning this suburban community into a sustainable city for a new millennium requires establishing a sense of place, pride, and identity".  

The Mesa Arts Center is the culmination of this idea for a new Mesa, an economic and cultural renovation designed to reinvent the city's image and reputation.  A project this significant physically and economically always has conflict..."

BIO Mesa Arts Center PDF

Cindy Ornstein Director, Mesa Department of Arts and Culture Executive Director, Mesa Arts Center Cindy Ornstein joined the City of Mesa as Director of Arts and Culture and Executive Director of the Mesa Arts Center (MAC) in July, 2010.

•  In addition to leading MAC, Arizona’s largest arts center encompassing four theaters, 14 performing and visual arts studios and the five galleries of Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, she oversees the i.d.e.a. Museum and the Arizona Museum of Natural History. In addition, 

• Cindy is a faculty associate at ASU’s Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts, teaching a master’s level class, Leadership in the Creative and Cultural Industries. 

Prior to coming to Mesa, Cindy was President & CEO of the Flint Cultural Center Corporation in Flint, Michigan, Associate Director of the Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA and Executive Director of Mayfair Festival of the Arts, Allentown, PA. 

• Before entering arts administration, Cindy was the Director of Corporate Communications at Rodale Press, Inc., a leading book and magazine publisher, and worked in the public relations agency business in New York and Atlanta, including holding vice presidencies at the world’s two largest public relations firms. 
• She began her career as an advertising copywriter and a journalist, and also worked in theater as an actor and director in Chicago and New York. 

Currently, Cindy serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the US Urban Arts Federation, on the Executive Committee of Southwest Maker Fest (of which she is a cofounder), and participates in the monthly AZ Cultural Leadership roundtable. 
She was appointed by Michigan’s Governor to two terms on the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and served on the Executive Committee of the board of ArtServe Michigan (now Creative Many Michigan). 

• Cindy earned a B.A. in English from Vassar College and an M.A. in Liberal Studies with a concentration in American Culture from the University of Michigan.

Related Sources

• Bob Huhn. “Arts and Culture in Mesa Are Creating Jobs and Revenues.(Mesa, Arizona’s Industries Impact on Economic Development ).” Public management 89, no. 9 (2007): 34.
• Raymond Kent, “The Mesa Arts Center Arrives in the Southwest,” TD&T (New York, N.Y.) 42, no. 3 (2006): 54.
• “Mesa Arts Center.” Harvard Graduate School of Design. Harvard University, July 6, 2016. https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/project/mesa-arts-center.
• “Mesa Arts Center.” Bora. Bora Architecture and Interiors, May 24, 2021. https://bora.co/project/mesa-arts-center/#!
• Cindy Ornstein, Interview by Samantha Linssen. Mesa, Arizona, November 9, 2021. 

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