We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leah Goodwin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leah below.

Leah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Over the past ten years I have worked in the community and have always felt like art was missing. Working on this project gave me the opportunity and budget to create an art collection including a bronze sculpture and mediation garden in the neighborhood.

The public art program at the new Southeastern Live Well Center, located at the southeast corner of Market Street and Euclid Avenue. It provides a single stop for residents to receive a variety of services in a convenient and modern location. It will also serve as a hub for community meetings, educational opportunities, and workforce training.

“Art at the Southeastern Live Well Center represents and celebrates the history, diversity and cross-cultural experiences of the community while educating, creating beauty, inspiration, and healing.”

A group of local community members, the SELWC Public Art Advisory Committee, have convened over
the project, created the art statement reviewed voted on and scored the artwork. The Art Advisory Committee released a Call for Art request to the local arts community asking artists to submit proposals for artwork in a wide variety of media including sculpture, two-dimensional and three dimensional artwork, original art, oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings, limited edition prints, giclee prints, mixed media art, glass, mosaics, wall sculpture, fabric art, collages, and photography.

Artist selection criteria included:
Quality and Creativity. Does the artist show proof of creating unique and inspiring work? Does the work
tell a story or provide inspiration and beauty? Will the artist’s style and media work well within the building spaces?

Celebrates History, Diversity and Has Roots in the Community. Does the artist come from a cultural
background that is represented in the community. Has the artist worked in or lived in or near the
community? Does the artist show a cultural sensitivity in the artwork?

The collection is the first Public Art Collection in The County of San Diego comprised with predominately artists of color. Over 100 artists submitted concepts for consideration, 33 artists have work represented at SELWC, 14 of these are original commissioned custom works, 19 additional artists provided 35 pieces of art such as: original paintings, photography, mixed media, giclee prints and one quilt. There are a total of 50 pieces of art on site. 100 percent of artists fit the art criteria of having roots in the community.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I own my company Leah Goodwin Creations, “Where Art and Soul Meet”. I believe that Art is how we grow, connect and ultimately heal. I have over thirty years of experience as an art consultant, administrator, Museum Director,and community advocate, creating award winning arts education, art and disability, and art-in-healthcare programs. I believe in the power of the arts to change and rebuild community spaces and inspire the soul.

I spent thirteen years as Director of Art Programs with Aesthetics Inc, using the public art process to create art projects in hospitals nationwide. My process begins by working with the client(s) to be clear on goals and concepts, then identifying locations for art and media, determining the appropriate media of art for the locations, creating the art budget, coordinating with the construction team to confirm or adjust plans, and determine the process for identifying and selecting the artists. I then vet the artists with the committee and decision makers and, finally, commission the art.

A typical hospital art project budget is between 1.2 to 2.5 million dollars. I am personally responsible for creating public art programs in more than thirty hospitals nationwide, and commissioning thousands of works of art from artists including paintings, photography, murals, mosaics, sculptures, benches, and stained glass.

As Director of Museum and Education at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. I created and curated 17 presentations in four years. The last one was a partnership with nine public artists. It included a permanent installation of Star Streams LithoMosaic at the museum’s main entrance and will serve as a vibrant welcoming point for visitors. This mosaic is the first such public artwork in a U.S. Museum.

In August 2015, I created the San Diego Experience of the Civil Rights Movement exhibit acknowledging the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which is on displayed all around San Diego. In 2019, I created and curated the 1619 Celebration of Black Women exhibit for the Women’s Museum of California.

I am a Fullbright Scholar and an accomplished and published poet and writer, including contributions to, Teaching English Language Learners through the Arts, by Merryl Goldberg and Muheres in Movement; Poems about self-love, activism & community.

Honors include a Moxie Award for being a Woman of Grit and Determination and being one of the selected featured women in Beautiful, Brilliant and Brave: A Celebration of Black Women exhibit for her work in art and culture. And in 2023,being appointed to serve on the California Arts Council by Governor Newsome.

I understand the evidence and the research around the role of the arts in community environments. Arts make people feel welcomed and included, using local artist instills a sense of pride and engages community.

I am an organized and enthusiastic collaborator with great skills. I feel very privileged to have worked in the arts and support so many communities. Art is a process, and it works interactively. There is a give and take, an active and passive balance that art brings to life. Art is and will always be here. It gives us a sense of place, a sense of purpose, a sense of wonder. After centuries of civilization are gone, art will be there to be a witness to tell the story of who we really are.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being a Creative, a cultural practitioner and culture bearer is what I love. I have always been creative writing poetry at the age of six. All forms of art inspire me and I feel that one of the biggest gifts in my life is that I have been able to do meaningful work in the field that I love. We only have this life and we should be happy in it.

I also pride myself in finding resources and funding artists. Art is not a hobby it is a career and beyond creativity, the arts are a powerful economic engine. California’s creative economy generates billions in revenue, sustains jobs, and fuels small businesses and tourism. Investing in the arts means investing in innovation, resilience, and equitable economic recovery, particularly for communities that need it most.

Footnote: Recently published data from the NEA reports that CA arts and culture sector contributed approximately $288 billion and over 821,000 jobs to the economy [note on data: release of reports in 2025 on 2023 data].

In the 1990s’ I was director of Education at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, with my colleague Merryl Goldberg Edd at Cal State University San Marcos,we created an art education program that started with three artists in three schools and ended up with 10 artists in three school districts. It was called SUAVE Socios Unidos Para Artes in Educacion. Because our artists were working full time we became one of the first organizations in the State of California to have full time, salaried, benefited teaching artists on staff and I am really proud of that project.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon. this book is a guide to building art in community, museums and is key as she says “Relevance is the Key that unlocks meaning. It opens doors to experiences that matter to us, surprise us and bring meaning into our lives.”

The Four Agreements By Don Miguel Ruiz. These words to live by guide me in my interactions and are a tool for being a better human.
Agreement 1 Be impeccable with your word
Agreement 2 – Don’t take anything personally
Agreement 3 – Don’t make assumptions
Agreement 4 – Always do your best

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leahscreations.com
• Instagram: leah.goodwin.980
• Facebook: Leah Goodwin
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/leah-goodwin-47a1841

Image Credits

no image credits needed