Chris Walters
Named Executive Director
The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes (The ARTS Council) is pleased to announce the naming of Chris Walters as its new Executive Director!
For more than a dozen years, Chris has served as The ARTS Council’s Grants Manager and Gallery Curator. During his tenure, he led the expansion of exhibition opportunities and guided the evolution of the grants program. Committed to creating a more accessible, responsive, and holistic approach, he oversaw the grants program’s exponential growth from awarding 63 grants totaling nearly $84,000 in 2014 to awarding 167 grants totaling over $328,000 in 2024.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, we are very pleased that Chris accepted the opportunity to step into the position of Executive Director on a permanent basis,” said Karen Martin, Board President. “Chris brings 12 years of valuable experience as Grants Manager and Gallery Curator of the organization, and he served significant amounts of time as its Interim Executive Director. We are confident that Chris is the right choice for this challenging climate and to lead The ARTS Council into the future.”
A working artist, Chris began his photography career exhibiting in an ARTS Council member show, an experience he credits as the cornerstone to his artistic career. With a primary focus on environmental portraits and landscapes documenting New York’s Southern Tier, solo exhibitions include From the Shadows (The Rockwell Museum), The Mighty Chemung (171 Cedar Arts Center), and The Public’s School (Southeast Steuben County Library). A two-time New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Support for Artists grant recipient, he is represented by West End Gallery in Corning, NY.
Before joining The ARTS Council, Chris served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the country of Georgia. He later returned to Georgia to lead cross-cultural exchange programs as the Country Director and Educational Programs Manager for IREX, an international non-profit. Locally, he recently completed two terms of service on the Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church and currently serves as the Immediate-Past Chair of Explore Steuben and Treasurer of his children’s school PTA. Chris holds a MA in International Educational Development with a concentration in Humanitarian Crises from Columbia University and a BA in Interdisciplinary Humanities with a concentration in English, Philosophy, & Religion from the University of West Florida.
“I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of so many visionary Executive Directors,” Chris said. “At our core, we are a service organization – we make arts and culture accessible to communities, advance the livelihoods and professionalism of artists, amplify the voices of tradition bearers, and build partnerships to foster a more welcoming region. Now more than ever, I’m committed to advancing all these efforts with clarity in purpose and steadfast resolve in support of the totality of our service region.”
