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December 12, 2025

SPACES WELCOMES PITA BROOKS AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

SPACES WELCOMES PITA BROOKS AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

216.621.2314 | contact@SPACEScle.org

(Cleveland, OH) — SPACES is pleased to announce the appointment of Pita Brooks as its next Executive Director, ushering in a new chapter grounded in deeper community relationships, strengthened mission alignment, and renewed commitment to artists across Northeast Ohio and beyond. A dynamic arts leader, multimedia artist, and advocate for creative ecosystems, Brooks brings a vision centered on authenticity, collaboration, and long-term sustainability.

Brooks joins SPACES with a strong record of organizational growth and artist-centered leadership. As Executive Director of Akron Soul Train (AST) until February 2025, she guided the organization through transformative expansion—growing earned income, securing new grants and sponsorships, enhancing programming, and attracting record-breaking numbers of artist residency applicants. Her leadership strengthened community partnerships and helped establish new platforms for regional artistic voices.

Since joining SPACES’ operations team in early 2025, Brooks has played a key role in grants management, exhibition support, and organizational systems-building. Her previous leadership roles at moCa Cleveland and the Cleveland Institute of Art further deepen her understanding of the region’s contemporary art landscape and the complex needs of working artists.

As Executive Director, Brooks aims to lead SPACES into a future defined by authentic relationship-building and mission-forward clarity. Her priorities include developing sustainable operational models, fostering meaningful partnerships across neighborhoods and creative communities, and guiding the organization through a strategic planning process that centers artists while strengthening SPACES’ role within Cleveland’s cultural ecosystem.

Alongside her administrative work, Brooks maintains a multidisciplinary art practice and co-runs newsense projects, a Lakewood-based gallery known for championing inclusive dialogue and expanding opportunities for regional artists.

Brooks will officially assume the Executive Director role on December 15, 2025, as SPACES continues to evolve its impact, deepen its roots, and highlight the creative growth shaping Cleveland today.

About SPACES
Founded in 1978, SPACES is a nonprofit alternative arts organization that supports experimental, artist-driven projects and engages the public through exhibitions, residencies, and public programs. SPACES champions risk-taking work, across all media, and fosters connections between artists and audiences in Northeast Ohio and beyond. For more information and to sign up for the newsletter, please visit www.spacescle.org or email contact@SPACEScle.org.

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