Leah Hamilton

Leah Hamilton is an Assistant Professor of Arts Administration at the University of Kentucky. Her research focus is on the intersection of arts, sociology, and emergency management, specifically disaster management policy. Her most recent research, Kentucky Arts in Disaster: An Impact Report, was released in the summer of 2024.

Professor Hamilton is a Crisis Analysis and Mitigation Coach for the US National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response. She is the co-investigator for a National Endowment for the Arts grant focusing on mitigation and disaster preparedness strategies for the arts in Kentucky. She also serves as the lead investigator for the Kentucky Heritage Emergency Response Network and is the Director of the Arts Emergency Management Certificate program at the University of Kentucky.

Leah has presented and lectured widely on her research and teaching methods in arts emergency management for public and private institutions and at academic conferences including with the Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Humanities Council, Kentucky Council on Archives, the KulturManagement Network, and at international academic conferences including the International Conference on Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts (STP&A), the Congress for European Network for Cultural Policy and Management (ENCATC), and the Arts Administration Educators Association (AAAE).

Prior to her work at the University of Kentucky, Leah served as Director of the Arts Administration program at Drury University in Missouri. Before that, she served as the Executive Director of the leading arts agency in the Missouri Ozarks, the Springfield Regional Arts Council. Under Hamilton’s leadership, the Council stabilized its funding and expanded its programming and facilities at The Creamery Arts Center.

Hamilton is a PhD Candidate in Arts Administration at the University of Kentucky, and holds a Master of Science degree in Arts Administration (Drexel University), a Post-Graduate Diploma in Music (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and a Bachelor in Music degree (University of Kansas).