Biography

For 25 years Diane LaBelle has led arts and education organizations in Pennsylvania. In 2010, LaBelle returned to Bethlehem to become the CEO of the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts), a free public school that provides a rich arts educational program for students in grades 9-12. At Charter Arts, LaBelle led fundraising efforts for a new 90,000 sq. ft. facility serving 650 students from 12 counties in eastern PA. During LaBelle’s tenure, Charter Arts has witnessed student success locally, regionally and nationally. From 2003 to 2010, LaBelle worked in Reading, Pa to design, oversee construction and then administer the GoggleWorks, a 145,000 sq. ft. former safety goggle factory converted to a multifaceted art center that has become a national model for community revitalization. LaBelle was the Director of the Banana Factory, an arts center in Bethlehem, Pa., from 1998-2003. Prior to that, she was the CEO of the nonprofit FreeHand, in Bethlehem, PA, working with children in the community to revitalize neighborhoods.  She graduated with a Master of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pa where she began her work with youth, community and the arts.