Renee Piechocki is passionate about developing projects and initiatives to engage artists and communities in the public realm.  She founded Pittsburgh’s Office of Public Art in 2005, where her team of five provided technical assistance and educational programs about public art in a thirteen-county region. Under her leadership, OPA produced more than 50 works of permanent and temporary public art and developed ongoing projects with entities in the public and private sector including the Allegheny County Airport Authority, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Neighborhood Allies, and Community Builders, Inc.  Previously she was facilitator the Public Art Network, the national service program in the field of public art, (2000-2004); studio manager for Vito Acconci (1998-2000); and project manager for the City of New York’s Percent for Art Program (1994-1998).  Her consulting work includes public art plans and strategies developed in collaboration with Jennifer McGregor and others for City of Laramie, WY (2015), San Pedro Creek Cultural Park in San Antonio, TX (2016), Cross-Charlotte Trail in Charlotte, NC (2016), and the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA (2012). Publications include “Contextualizing the Public in Social Practice Projects” in A Companion for Public Art (2016), “Beyond the Ribbon Cutting: Education and Programming Strategies for Public Art Projects and Programs” in Public Art by the Book (2005), Artist Residencies in the Public Realm (2014) a resource guide for successful collaborations, and Add Value Add Art (2010) a resource for private developers. Her work as an artist ranges from Two Girls Working, a decade long collaboration with Tiffany Ludwig; the Driveway of Doom produced every Halloween in collaboration with a cast of characters at her house in Pittsburgh; stop motion short films, short stories, and other creative projects. She was born in Queens, NY and received her BA from Hunter College.