Rachel Saul Rearick is the new executive director of Contemporary Craft, a 50-year-old visual arts organization in Upper Lawrenceville.
Currently, Ms. Rearick, 39, is in charge of art programs and the installation of public art at Pittsburgh International Airport. She begins her new job on June 1 and succeeds Janet L. McCall, who led Contemporary Craft for 25 years.
“Contemporary Craft has played a vital role in my development. I am honored to be charged with assuming the helm of one of the preeminent craft organizations in the nation,” Ms. Rearick said in a prepared statement.
“I have loved my work at Pittsburgh International Airport. I am leaving it only because of this opportunity to accept my dream job at Contemporary Craft. It feels like a homecoming to me,” she added.
As the first full-time arts and culture manager at Pittsburgh International Airport, Ms. Rearick managed the integration of public art that will be part of the airport’s terminal modernization program. Her role expanded earlier this year to managing Neighborhood 91, an advanced manufacturing/3D printing and supply chain system.
Previously, Ms. Rearick was arts, culture and history specialist in the City of Pittsburgh’s planning department. Before that, she had a four-year stint as assistant director of education at Contemporary Craft, where she scheduled and managed nearly 100 studio workshops a year.
As a printmaker, Ms. Rearick uses wood — cutting and carving pieces for printing — and also introduced metals into the artworks that she creates with her wife, Katie Rearick. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg and Sulfur Studios in Savannah, Ga.
Ms. Rearick lives in Stanton Heights with her wife; the couple is expecting their first child in July.
Marylynne Pitz at mpitz@post-gazette.com or on Twitter:@mpitzpg
First Published: May 14, 2021, 4:09 p.m.