The Board of Directors of The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) announced today the spring 2017 retirement of CHAW’s long-time Executive Director, Jill Strachan, who has led the organization since 2007, and the appointment of Amy Moore and Hannah Jacobson Blumenfeld as Co-Executive Directors to succeed her.

“There is not enough room in a single statement to share our appreciation for Jill and the incredible work she has done for the past ten years to build CHAW into the thriving organization it is today,” said Board President Patricia Jackson.

As she transitions to retirement, Jill will serve CHAW in a support role while Amy Moore, CHAW’s Director of Education and Programs since February 2008, and Hannah Jacobson Blumenfeld, CHAW’s Director of Marketing, Development, and Strategy since September 2014, take on the new positions of Co-Executive Directors. “We are thrilled to have found the best candidates to succeed Jill from within the organization,” added Mrs. Jackson. “We are confident that Amy and Hannah are the right professionals to carry on Jill’s good work and her commitment to CHAW’s culture of openness and respect for all.”

In their new roles, Amy and Hannah will be jointly responsible for the management, oversight, and future of the organization.  They bring their deep knowledge of the organization, along with the strategic functions, of their former jobs to bear on this new leadership position. “We are very excited to take on these new responsibilities, and look forward to continuing to work both within CHAW and with the broader DC community to develop more opportunities to engage, connect, and explore through the arts,” Amy and Hannah said in a joint statement.

Since its founding in 1972, CHAW has been dedicated to building community through the arts. CHAW has never turned a student away for inability to pay for an arts class, and provides tuition assistance and transportation options to all who are interested in making art in community with others. CHAW is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. CHAW was a featured charity in the 2014-2015 Catalogue for Philanthropy, mentioned as Best Venue to See on the Cheap in DCist’s 2014 Best Theater Venues in DC, the 2015 & 2016 winner for Best Arts Class in the Washington City Paper Readers’ Poll, 2014 & 2015 Hilly Award winner for Best Arts Organization/Venue, and the winner of the 2017 Irene Pollin Community Engagement Award through the NSO.