Heidi Schmalbach

I’m idealist at heart. My ambitions include helping to mold societies in which individuals are active, accountable members of their communities and in which the arts are cherished and accessible.

To balance my romantic nature, I’ve learned to become a pragmatist and an organizer, while along the way developing a love for research and data. For the past 12 years I’ve worked in a diversity of contexts, always at the intersection of economic and community development, urban planning, and the arts. From rural Texas and Southern Appalachia to Austin and New Orleans, I’ve witnessed the strength of the arts to bring people together in joy and celebration, but also to open space for dialog, dissent, and ultimately understanding that might otherwise be unreachable. This is the power of art to transform communities, and it is what grounds and drives our work at the Arts Council.

The right to cultural expression, exposure to meaningful artistic experiences, and access to sensually appealing environments are fundamental components of a just society that cannot be replaced or substituted. Our vision for New Orleans is one in which arts and culture are given a central role in all elements of planning, policy, place-making/keeping/ healing. Artists and cultural producers are resourced, youth are given exposure and opportunity to flex their creative muscles, sites of cultural memory are protected,and our shared public realm reflects our collective creativity and how we esteem each other.

Heidi joined the Arts Council in 2013 as a research fellow, helping to organize what would become the Arts Council’s Youth Solutions initiative. She served as the Associate Director of Creative Placemaking and Deputy Director before taking the helm as Executive Director in 2018. Heidi holds a Master’s Degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin school of Architecture as well as a Bachelor’s in Public Relations. She is currently a PhD candidate in City, Culture, and Community at Tulane University.