Pivot Arts Appoints Jorge Silva as Executive Artistic Director

 Pivot Arts  has announced the appointment of Jorge Silva as the new Executive Artistic Director, marking an exciting leadership transition poised to shape the next chapter of innovation and community engagement for the organization. Silva, a leader with deep roots in both Chicago and the arts, will succeed Julieanne Ehre, the Founding Director who has guided Pivot Arts since its inception. 

With degrees from Cornell University and an MBA from The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Silva combines artistic insight with strategic acumen – a blend that has defined his accomplished career in the arts. He currently serves as Managing Director at the Wirtz Center at Northwestern University and previously served as the Managing Director for The Neo-Futurists in Chicago; both roles have demonstrated his expertise for implementing thoughtful, financial sustainability measures that balance solvency with community responsibility — a tenet core to Pivot Arts’ mission. In addition to his tenure at the Booth School of Business, where he was also a Neubauer Civic Scholar, a recent alum of the DeVos Institute’s Global Arts Management Fellowship at the University of Maryland and a part of the first cohort of Creative West’s National Leaders of Color fellowship. 

Silva’s experience and vision are uniquely suited to continue the organization’s commitment to presenting multidisciplinary performances that resonate with Chicago’s diverse communities. Under his leadership, Silva, who has consulted and performed for Pivot in years past, aims to build on Pivot Arts’ legacy of elevating new, ambitious works specifically by artists of color: “As a performance artist, I found Chicago’s theatrical scene to welcome either weird or Brown, but never both at the same time. I would like to build a home at Pivot Arts for experimental artists of color not currently served by the existing cultural institutions. A home where one can be both [Brown and weird].” His vision includes modifying the flagship program, the Pivot Arts Festival, to a smaller affair that can better serve this niche sect of the artistic community. “We often conflate bigger with more impact; an organization can still have substantial influence without having to cannibalize its own bandwidth in search of more financial resources,” says Silva. 

While there is a plan for a narrowed focus, Silva still hopes to honor his past experiences with Pivot facilitated by Ehre. Under her stewardship, Pivot Arts has grown into a recognized platform that champions some of the city’s most recognizable artists by fostering innovative and enriching performances. ”As a longtime collaborator and board member with Pivot Arts, I am proud of Pivot’s legacy – established by Julieanne Ehre – which created a critical space for interdisciplinary, experimental new work in Chicago,” said Tanya Palmer. “The organization – through both its annual festival, its incubator program, and many other innovative programs – nourished some of the most compelling, diverse and experimental artists in Chicago. I’m certain that Jorge Silva will not only continue to build on that impressive legacy, but also take it in exciting new directions.”