Heather Pontonio
Senior Program Director 
Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation

Heather Pontonio is the Senior Program Director at the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation where she is responsible for national strategy and administration of the Art Program portfolio focused on professional practices for both artists and contemporary art curators.  Heather has been instrumental in the launch of Artists Thrive, a national tool to assess and improve conditions for artists across the country.  

In 2018 the Tremaine Foundation re-affirmed its support for curators with an expanded portfolio which includes the Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award (now in its 22nd year), two exhibition research grants, the first Journalism Fellowship for Curators with Hyperallergic, support for the Association of Art Museum Curators Mentorship program, and two new grant programs focused on Peer Networks and Innovation. 
​
Previously, Heather was the Associate Vice President of Grants at the Arts & Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and began her career in New York City at the Little Orchestra Society, Irish Repertory Theatre and Cherry Lane Theatre.  

Heather serves on the Appalachia Funders Network Steering Committee and is Board President for the Bethel Education Foundation.  She was a 2015 P.L.A.C.E.S. fellow with The Funders’ Network and from 2012-2018 on the Grantmakers in the Arts’ Support for Individual Artists Committee (co-chair 2015-2017). Heather has a master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in Arts Administration from the State University of New York at Fredonia.