The Miami-based Knight Foundation has appointed Jamaican-born artist Kristina Newman-Scott as its new vice president for arts.

In the role, Newman-Scott will oversee Knight Foundation’s expansive arts portfolio, which has invested over US$466 million since 2005 to help artists and arts organisations create stronger and more vibrant communities, stated the foundation in a release on its website.

“Kristina’s passionate belief in the power of the arts to build and strengthen community is inspiring. She deeply understands the positive effect of a thriving arts ecosystem on local economies,” said Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, Knight Foundation president and CEO. “And she is an energetic champion of local artists and organizations building communities in which everyone can participate. I could not be more delighted to welcome Kristina to Knight Foundation.”

Newman-Scott noted that, “Knight Foundation is an industry-leading funder within the arts, with a proven track record of meaningful and sustainable impact for the populations it serves.

“I’ve worked across every corner of the art world, from practicing artist to curator to administrator, and I bring a multidisciplinary approach that meets arts organiwations and artists where they’re at in their journey. I’m thrilled to join an organiwation with a clear devotion to this work and such a rich history of results. I look forward to building on Knight Foundation’s incredible legacy,” she said.

Founded in 1950, the Knight Foundation has for more than seven decades worked to build informed communities by investing in journalism, the arts and civic innovation.

According to the release, Newman-Scott will advance Knight’s funding strategy to amplify and accelerate the transformation of arts in Knight cities and across the United States. The foundation’s programmes, including Knight New Work and Knight Art + Tech Expansion, fund local art initiatives across eight Knight cities: Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit; Macon, Georgia; Miami; Philadelphia; San Jose, California; and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Knight Foundation has focused its arts and culture funding on grants that enable artists and arts institutions nationwide to introduce new technologies and ways to deepen experiences, engage new audiences, and inspire new works. This includes financing that supports new installations, develops emerging practices and understanding of the sector through fellowships, forums, and research, and increases organizations’ overall capacity by enabling planning and staffing for technical infrastructure, the release stated.

It added that Newman-Scott most recently served as the inaugural executive director of the Jerome L Greene Performance Art Space at New York Public Radio/WNYC. A leader in contemporary visual and performing arts with over 20 years of experience, she currently serves on the boards of Americans for the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Department of Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission for the City of New York and National Arts Strategies, the latter two as chair.

Newman-Scott worked as a practicing artist in Jamaica for nearly three decades before moving to the United States in 2005, the Knight Foundation website stated.