Heather Hartley

Heather Hartley, the Co-Founder and vice president of Trillium Arts, relocated to the Asheville, NC area in June 2019 after working as a dance industry professional and artist in Chicago for two decades.

Career highlights include serving as executive director of See Chicago Dance (2012–19), the non-profit service organization for more than 250 companies and individual artists in the city’s dance industry. Heather led SCD through seven years of consistent growth and expansion, doubling the size and diversity of the organization’s board of directors, doubling artist membership and tripling the organization’s operating budget. She was a senior staff member for two of Chicago’s most respected performing arts organizations: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (director of marketing and communications, 2004–07) and the Dance Center of Columba College Chicago (marketing director, 1998–2004). She directed the Chicago Dancemakers Forum (2007–11), a funding consortium that provided mentorship and the largest awards available to choreographers in the state of Illinois, and simultaneously launched Hartley Communications, which continues to offer arts management and strategic planning services to numerous small to mid-sized arts organizations.

As a dance/theatre artist in Chicago, Heather performed in more than 35 productions and directed more than 10 original works. Other credits include performances and/or choreography with Collaboraction, Redmoon Theater and Next Theatre, among others. She was a founding member of the award-winning interdisciplinary collective Running With Scissors. Other awards include a DanceBridge residency from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and an Illinois Arts Council CAAP grant.

A native of Boone, NC, Heather received a BFA in dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an MA degree in interdisciplinary arts from Columbia College Chicago. She has spoken on numerous panels and has led workshops and/or guest-lectured for Columbia College Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre’s Arts Exchange, the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and Dance/USA. She served as an advisor on the Choose Chicago Cultural Tourism Commission and was a member of the Actors Fund Advisory Council and the Dance/USA Service Organizations National Council. For four consecutive years, Newcity magazine named Heather one of the “Top 50 Players” leading Chicago’s cultural scene. She is thrilled to be back in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, Phil Reynolds, and their delightfully spoiled dog, Thelma.

Learn more about Heather’s creative work and consulting services at heatherhartley.com.