Artadia names Allison Derusha as executive director

Artadia has appointed Allison Derusha as executive director. The news was published on 15 September 2026. Kim held the post on an interim basis since January.

The appointment was reported by ARTnews. The executive director, the person who runs an organisation day to day, answers to the board and puts its plans into action. In arts non-profits of this kind that work usually covers awards, staff and budgets.

Bora Kim served as Artadia's interim executive director since January, according to that same report. Artadia lists Kim as its deputy director on its staff page. The interim title is used when someone leads temporarily while a permanent appointment is found.

Artadia gives direct awards to visual artists, meaning painters, sculptors, photographers, video-makers and others working in visual forms. Its Atlanta Artadia Awards programme shows how that system works in practice. It is open to all visual artists living and working in 23 counties in Georgia, according to Artadia.

Those counties are Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Spalding and Walton. The list covers Atlanta and its wider region. Eligibility is set by where an artist lives and works, not by where they were born or trained.

Artadia lists Claire Malloy as director of advancement, the post that leads fundraising and partnerships, on its staff and board page. The same page lists Ian Alteveer and artist Nick Cave as members of the board of directors, the group that oversees strategy and governance. Board members do not run daily operations. They appoint the executive, approve direction and hold the organisation to its purpose.

For artists following this, the name at the top matters in practical ways. It affects who answers questions, how outreach is done and how steady the calendar feels. A permanent appointment ends a period of temporary leadership.

Derusha now leads that work. Kim returns to, or continues in, her deputy role. Malloy continues to lead advancement. The board, including Alteveer and Cave, continues its oversight role.