WAC Announces New Director of Education

Westport, CT -- The Westport Arts Center announces the appointment of a new Director of Education. Lillie Fortino joins the Arts Center with a wealth of teaching, arts, and photography experience, and a strong commitment to motivating and fostering growth in her students.   

Fortino will be responsible for managing and growing all aspects of the Arts Center’s Education programs, including Youth & Teen art classes and camps, adult education, special arts, continuing education at local schools, the Teen Advisory Council, and community service programs such as Connections and WAC Gives Back.   

The Arts Center’s Community Collaboration program, designed to build synergies through partnerships with other non-profit organizations, will continue to be a priority.

Amanda Innes, the Executive Director for the Westport Arts Center, explained, “Lillie’s experience and passion for her work will have an immediate impact on the Arts Center and the community.  We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationships with other organizations in the community, and to developing the highest quality and most relevant programming.”

A 2010 graduate from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and a concentration in Photography, Fortino has spent her career dedicated to teaching and unifying arts organizations to better serve the youth in our community.  

Most recently, Fortino has served as an Arts Enrichment Program Coordinator for the Norwalk Housing Authority, serving over 150 low-income K-12 students. 

She has experience teaching documentary photography, training students to be knowledgeable docents of historic and contemporary public art, and incenting students to become involved in the creation of public arts for their local community. 

Fortino explained, “Growing up in Westport, I know how important the creative arts are to the community, and it thrills me to be here and to help build an accessible enrichment program for our younger generation. It’s so important for our youth to find solace in expression and self-discovery through the arts, and it has become a passion of mine to help make this possible.”

Fortino joins current Westport Arts Center Education Manger Noah Steinman on the Arts Center’s Education team.  Steinman will continue to serve as the lead teacher for many of the Arts Center’s classes and summer camp programs. 

For more information on Lillie Fortino, or the Westport Arts Center’s Education team and programs, please contact Leslie LaSala at leslie@westportartscenter.org or 203/222-7070.

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Submitted by Fairfield, CT

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