Janera Solomon

Background

About Janera Solomon

janera is a writer, curator and cultural strategist based in Pittsburgh, recognized for her transformative leadership. In 2024, in collaboration with a team of colleagues, she launched ARTPOWER Inc, to transform personal financial management tools for independent artists. Her cultural strategy projects include: School of Arts and Culture, Mexican Heritage Plaza; the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco); Louis Armstrong House, Brooklyn Museum of Art; Ministry of Tourism in Ontario; and August Wilson Center for African American History & Culture (Pittsburgh). For more than a decade, janera served as the executive director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, transforming the community center into a national producer and presenter of contemporary performance, while still remaining a vital neighborhood cultural anchor. Named by Pittsburgh Magazine as one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Pittsburgh,” janera currently serves on the advisory boards for Carnegie Museum of Art, and Board of Trustees of The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. She is member, and board director of the International Women’s Forum (Pittsburgh Chapter) and the University of Pittsburgh Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (her alma mater). She holds a BA from University of Pittsburgh and an MA in Writing (nonfiction) from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently working on a forthcoming collection of essays and poems.