Staff

Meet Christine Weber Rivera, our Programs & Events Manager

Christine Weber Rivera joined the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures team last fall and is excited to have stepped into the role of Programs & Events Manager this summer. In addition to running and coordinating the Authors to Schools program, she co-manages the website and is the one in charge of coordinating with our incredible guests and their teams to ensure they enjoy their time in Pittsburgh as much as we love having them here!

What did you do before you joined Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures?

I’ve spent most of my life as a professional actor, traveling and working in theaters around the United States. My husband and I both lived the nomadic life together for many years, going from gig to gig, contract to contract, until we decided to start a family. We had our two amazing children, and while we continue to perform on stage or screen whenever we can, my husband was offered a job teaching at one of the universities here in Pittsburgh, so we jumped on the opportunity and moved here. Within a couple of years I decided it was time to go back to school, so I went to Carnegie Mellon University – Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, and just graduated with my Master of Arts Management degree in May!

What drew you to work with PA&L?

Growing up in Minnesota, one of my dearest friends (I refer to her as my second mother, actually!) would take me to author lectures when I was growing up. I got to see great authors like Armistead Maupin and Carlos Ruiz Zafón speak when I was just a teenager, and they were formative experiences for me. As an actor, I’ve always understood how scripts are written–but novels and short stories seemed like an entirely different and unattainable world. To see these authors and hear them–their voices, their dialects, their cadences–brought a whole new level of love for their work and a deeper appreciation for the magic of writing.

When I learned that Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures exists, I jumped at the chance to get involved. The mission of PA&L resonates deeply with me, and I am still blown away that I get to interact with the humans behind these works of art. Being a champion for freedom of expression, the written word, and storytelling as a form of connection–you can’t ask for a better job.

What do you hope to accomplish in your role?

I can’t wait to enhance our incredible Authors to Schools program, and am looking to build out ways that students from different schools can not only interact with renowned authors, but also with each other. I believe that offering children/students opportunities to explore their creativity and find their own voices is at the heart of childhood, and being a resource for educators in our area is a point of pride I can’t quite express adequately.

It’s also important to me that I reach new communities in Pittsburgh through our outreach efforts, and offer a collaborative platform for the countless non-profit organizations that make this city so vibrant, welcoming, and unique. Our audiences deserve the best experiences with the authors that join us, and our authors deserve the best of Pittsburgh as well. It’s exciting to be an ambassador for this city.

Tell us a bit about you–what are some of your favorite pastimes?

Honestly, I like a little bit of just about everything! I love traveling, listening to new music, I always have a book with me in my bag, and am equally as happy to watch a baseball game or the ballet. These days, you’ll find me writing, reading, learning French, being a Girl Scout mom, a tee ball coach, baking, doing crossword puzzles, gardening, performing, and producing short films. I like to keep busy!

The golden question: if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three books, which would you bring?

Charlotte’s Web, The Shadow of the Wind, and probably a book of short stories by Salinger or Saroyan.

What are you currently reading?

Piglet by Lottie Hazell, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and finally started Intermezzo by Sally Rooney!

Meet Charlie Legere, our Development Manager

If you’ve been with us this past season, you may have noticed a slew of new faces joining our team at Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures! This summer, we are so excited to introduce you to each of our new staff members in a series called “Meet the Team”, starting with Charlie Legere.

Charlie is our fantastic new Development Manager, leading the charge on everything from grants to sponsorships to donations from patrons like you. You’ve seen him around at our events, but let’s get to know him a bit better, shall we?

Can you tell us a bit more about your career prior to joining Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures?

I have a PhD in English from Berkeley and was training to be an academic, then I moved to Pittsburgh for a Postdoc, and loved it here. I decided that my desire for living in a place I wanted to live outweighed my desire to work in academia, and I shifted careers. As a grant writer and then fundraiser, I worked at Carnegie Museums, Riverlife, and then as a freelancer. One rewarding project I got to work on was a successful $40m grant proposal to preserve historic Black churches, with the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

What drew you to work with PA&L?

I’ve raised funds for art exhibitions, science, environmental causes, historic preservation, accessibility, capital projects—a lot of projects that have been rewarding because I’ve gotten to dig deep into a topic, then make a vision into reality. However, I ran a poetry reading series at Berkeley, and I write, and I always wanted to be able to use my skills to do something with literature. That’s what attracted me to Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures!

Do you have a wish list of what you hope to accomplish in this role with us?

Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures has a base of subscribers, some of whom have been attending our events for decades, and a culture of engagement with books and ideas that’s grown from that. Our audience and community are extraordinary. In my role I want to assure its continuity, and expand it to new audiences.

Tell us a bit about you–what are some of your favorite pastimes?

I walk, birdwatch, forage, and identify wildflowers. I’m translating a book of poems for children by a French poet named Jacques Roubaud, and I write poetry. From March until October, I listen to the radio broadcast of every Red Sox game.

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask: if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three books, which would you bring?

Moby Dick, Robinson Crusoe, Wallace Stevens’ poems. All topical!

What are you currently reading?

I was reading the Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun’s poems one night, and the next day, I had this uncanny moment… I was parking my car and the car parked in front of me had a bumper sticker that said: “TOMAŽ ŠALAMUN.”

Meet Devan Murphy, our Patron Experience Associate

The team at Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures is excited to introduce you to our new staff member, Devan Murphy. Devan will be the friendly face at our events working the Box Office and the voice you’ll hear on the phone. Devan will also work with our digital communication through our email marketing and social media.

Tell us about your career so far.

I am a creative writer and illustrator from Northeast Ohio. I received my BA in English from the University of Akron and my MA in English Literature from Ohio University, where I also taught undergraduate English composition and literature for four years before coming to Pittsburgh in 2018.

Prior to joining the team at Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, I worked as a gallery attendant at the Wood Street Galleries downtown, as a cashier at Amazing Books & Records in Squirrel Hill, and, most recently, as a staff writer and editor for wikiHow. I also do occasional freelance copyediting and volunteer work for Autumn House Press, whose books I’m a huge fan of.

Most of my spare time is spent writing and making art myself; my visual art has been shown in galleries throughout the Pittsburgh region, and my chapbook, I’m not I’m not I’m not a baby, a collection of prose poems, short memoir, and abstract comics, is forthcoming from Ethel Press.

What has attracted you to PA&L?

My love for Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures began soon after I arrived in Pittsburgh, when I saw Ilya Kaminsky read at the Carnegie Library. It was one of the first literary events I attended in Pittsburgh, and after that I just wanted to be as immersed as I could in this city’s vibrant arts and literary scenes. I try to go to readings and lectures—with PA&L and at Pittsburgh’s many other literary venues—as often as I can, and I’ve met so many amazing people through these events. I’ve long admired everything PA&L does for the literary community and the community generally, and it’s the type of work I want to be involved in myself.

What are some of your aspirations for this role?

As Patron Experience Associate, I can’t wait to get to know PA&L’s many fans—both the audience members who have been here for years and, hopefully, many new fans as well—and to help create a welcoming environment where we can all enjoy and learn from PA&L’s amazing authors and lecturers. I’m excited to help the team find new ways to expand our audience and further the organization’s mission of facilitating literary engagement and civic discourse in the Pittsburgh community.

What are some of your pastimes?

I spend a lot of time reading, of course, as well as writing and drawing: I’m currently working on a book of illustrated fairytales and a collection of self-erasure poems. Beyond that, I love going to the movies (especially the Manor in Squirrel Hill) and playing with my cat, Buddy.