Pittsburgh Cultural Trust president and CEO Kevin McMahon retiring at end of 2022

When J. Kevin McMahon arrived in Pittsburgh 21 years ago to work for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, remnants of the seedy red-light part of Downtown that became the Cultural District were still in place.

“The city was starting to emerge from its past, but I looked right out on Liberty Avenue and there were still a half-a-dozen adult-use operations going on,” McMahon said. “We had a little more work to do.”

The Cultural Trust’s first president, Carol Brown, and the so-called “band of dreamers” – that included H.J. “Jack” Heinz II and other community leaders – had already done much between 1984 and 2001 to transform the former home of x-rated theaters into a destination for lovers of Broadway and the fine arts.

But it was McMahon who took his predecessors’ vision and made it a fully realized dream.

“The Benedum (Center for the Performing Arts) was there, the O’Reilly (Theater) had just opened along with (Agnes R.) Katz Plaza. The main mission as it was described to me was to fill up these halls with programming,” said McMahon. “The focus really was continuing the amazing work that was established and underway.”

McMahon accomplished that and then some.

Now, after more than two decades of leading the Trust through unprecedented growth, McMahon is retiring, effective at the end of this year.

“Kevin has accomplished so much during his time at the Cultural Trust and we are grateful that he has led Pittsburgh’s Cultural District to prosper as one of the country’s leading cultural destinations,” said Pittsburgh Cultural Trust board chair Richard Harshman.

McMahon came to Pittsburgh after working as executive vice-president at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., from 1992 to 2001.

Under McMahon’s watch, the Cultural Trust has grown to the point where it now attracts two million people each year to more than 2,000 performing arts events. They include the Pittsburgh premieres of several internationally known theater companies, including the Globe Theatre and Dublin’s Gate Theatre, as well as sensational events such as Disney’s “The Lion King,” “Wicked,” and “Hamilton.”

In the process, the Cultural Trust said McMahon was instrumental in growing its annual budget from $20 million to $85 million, placing it among the top five performing arts centers in the United States. Until the covid-19 pandemic, the organization says it did not incur an annual operating deficit.

“The arts and cultural environment is a big part of the vitality of Pittsburgh and our economic growth, and Kevin McMahon has been at the heart of our cultural ecosystem,” said county executive Rich Fitzgerald. “Kevin’s advocacy, energy, and enthusiasm for the cultural institutions has benefitted this entire region and improved our quality of life.”

McMahon was also a regular presence at Cultural District events and could often be seen going up and down theater aisles meeting and greeting the patrons. He said that’s one of the aspects of his job that he’ll miss the most.

“If you didn’t like being with people and you didn’t like going out every night to performances, my job would not be a great job,” said McMahon. “One of the most wonderful things about this job is seeing programs and performances and being with other people.”

While retiring from his role at the Cultural Trust, McMahon said he plans to continue teaching as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

A national search for the organization’s next president and CEO is underway.