Jeremy V. Johnson

Jeremy Johnson will become President and CEO of Assembly for the Arts in June 2021. A native Clevelander, he returns to Ohio following two decades as a nonprofit and arts champion in New Jersey. He was Executive Director of Newark Arts, one of Newark’s leading nonprofits. The organization makes grants to neighborhood arts programs, produces the award-winning Newark Arts Festival, and advocates for policies to uplift Newark as a city of the arts. Jeremy led the creation of Newark’s first community cultural plan, Newark Creates, which resulted in the city-sponsored Creative Catalyst Fund to support area artists impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeremy is a new board member of University Circle, Inc. He represents Cleveland on Americans for the Arts’ Equity Council for the forthcoming Arts & Economy Prosperity 6 Study. He served as Newark’s philanthropic liaison under Mayor Ras Baraka and Mayor (now Senator) Cory Booker. He worked on the fundraising team that helped build New Jersey Performing Arts Center in 1997. He chaired the Newark City of Learning Collaborative, an initiative to increase the percentage of Newarkers with post-secondary degrees. Jeremy served on the boards of the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, ArtPride New Jersey, Newark Symphony Hall, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He received his BA from Kenyon College and MFA from the University of Iowa. He interned at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. He enjoys classical and gospel music, art galleries, and American Sign Language.