Aaron Levy PhD, MPhil, is a curator and creative leader with over 25 years of experience developing innovative institutional models in the arts and public sector. As Executive and Artistic Director of Public Trust, he leads interdisciplinary programs that center dialogue, listening, and attunement as core curatorial strategies, connecting artists, scholars, and communities around critical social, ecological, and educational issues.
Previously, Dr. Levy was the founding Executive Director of Slought in Philadelphia, where he pioneered alternative approaches to exhibitions, public programs, and collaborative projects. He has worked extensively with artists such as Susan Meiselas, Fazal Sheikh, Agnes Varda, Braco Dimitrijevic, Dennis Oppenheim, Carolee Schneemann, and others, producing hundreds of exhibitions and events addressing pressing societal challenges. Notable projects include Into the Open (2008) for the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which traveled to Parsons and the National Constitution Center; the international Perpetual Peace Project (2010) in collaboration with the European Union National Institutes of Culture and United Nations University, which traveled to the New Museum and other institutions; No Mud, No Lotus (2018), a year-long film retrospective with Louverture Films; and an installation and programming series with Magnum Photos exploring photography and American democracy.
As an art historian and educator with over twenty years of teaching experience at the University of Pennsylvania, he has developed public and academic programs in partnership with institutions including the Barnes Foundation, fostering deep engagement with the arts. A recognized leader in the arts and health community, he founded and directs the Listening Lab at Penn Medicine and the Health Ecologies Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, integrating storytelling and expressive arts into care experiences. He is the author or editor of over 20 publications, including On Listening as a Form of Care (2020), The Language of Care (2021), and Rx/Museum: 52 Essays on Art and Reflection in Medicine (2022).
He holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (BA, MPhil) and the University of Leeds (PhD) and has served on committees and boards for the Artist Protection Fund, the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions, AICA-USA, and other organizations.
