Linwood J. Oglesby
Professional Biography


Linwood J. Oglesby became the first full-time Executive Director of the Newark Arts Council when he was appointed to that position by the board of directors on March 1, 1999. In this position he is responsible for developing a comprehensive arts program for the city of Newark that, through collaboration with arts groups, artists, and the philanthropic community, further establishes Newark’s position as the state’s foremost cultural center. Programs of the Council include the ArtStart Grants Program, the Artists Studio and Available Space Tour, and Information Services, including the NewarkArts newsletter and its companion website, Newarkarts.org. The Council also provides leadership on issues of cultural planning, artists housing, and public art.

Prior to joining the Newark Arts Council, Linwood served for four years as Administrator of New Community Harmony House Corporation. In the position of Administrator of the 102 unit transitional housing facility, he was responsible for service provision in the largest facility of its kind in New Jersey. In addition to providing housing, the program’s objectives included working with the private and public sectors to utilize available federal housing programs to move homeless families from homelessness to self-sufficiency.

Mr. Oglesby previously served as Executive Director of the American Council for the Arts (ACA), a national arts advocacy and arts service organization based in New York City. He was appointed by the Board of Director of ACA to become Acting CEO, upon the resignation of the former President and CEO in January 1994. At ACA he oversaw the National Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts Policy (as The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.) and the national Arts Advocacy Day at the U. S. Capitol.

From 1986 through 1991, Linwood Oglesby was the Executive Director of the Hopkins House Association, Inc., a health and human services agency in Alexandria, Virginia. There he developed a pre-school for three – five year olds, created an arts education program linking artists from the city’s Torpedo Factory Arts Center with this community-based program, and instituted Alexandria’s first city-wide AIDS outreach program for street populations. The Mayor and City Manager appointed Mr. Oglesby to numerous panels and commissions.

Mr. Oglesby has also served as Director of Urban Arts at The Arts Council, Inc. in Winston-Salem, N.C. and was in charge of outreach programs and developing audiences for member groups of the Council. Among the programs which he directed or co-directed were the Mayfest International Festival, Carolina StreetScene, the Art-Is House after school arts education program, visual arts exhibitions and performing arts events. He, also, advised the Council’s Projects Pool re-granting program.

He has served communities regionally and nationally, as a consultant.He has served on the boards of many organizations, including ArtPride, NJ, the Burgdorff Cultural Center (Maplewood), the United Way (Alexandria), the Essex County Comprehensive Emergency Assistance System. Newark Mayor Sharpe James recently appointed him to the city’s first Public Art Commission and he was elected by his fellow commissioners to serve as its first Chairman. Mr. Oglesby was appointed by Virginia Governor Gerald Baliles to the state’s Commission on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, a position to which he was reappointed by Governor Douglas Wilder, representing Virginia’s 9th congressional district.

Mr. Oglesby holds the Master of Science degree in Social Policy from Howard University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. He serves on the adjunct faculty of the Seton Hall University Center for Public Service.


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