Kristy Edmunds is the executive and artistic director of the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. She is recognized for innovation and depth in the presentation of works by contemporary artists, with a particular emphasis on contemporary performing arts. She began serving as artistic and executive director of the UCLA Live performance series in 2011, and has worked as the consulting artistic director for the newly formed Park Avenue Armory in New York since 2009. Edmunds was instrumental in founding the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) and its TBA Festival (Time Based Art) in Oregon in 1995. She later served as artistic director for the Melbourne International Arts Festival from 2005–08, and was the first to serve an unprecedented four year term. Edmunds was the Center's Pew Fellowships panel chair in 2012 and 2013. In late 2015, she concluded her 18-month tenure as the Center's Visiting Scholar and "catalyst in residence."
