Westmoreland Cultural Trust parts ways with CEO April Kopas

The Westmoreland Cultural Trust has parted ways with CEO April Kopas, who has led the regional cultural and arts organization since June 2019.

The Trust issued a statement this weekend that Kopas left the Greensburg-based organization on June 20, but offered no explanation for her abrupt departure.

“On behalf of the Trust and all its employees, the board of trustees thank April for her passion, leadership and dedication to the mission of the Trust and the community it serves,” the statement read.

The Trust said that while it conducts a search for a new CEO, the organization will function as usual under the guidance and direction of the board’s executive committee until an interim CEO is named, said Tim Fedele, board chairman.

Board members will have no further comment at this time, he said.

The Tribune-Review was unable to reach Kopas for comment.

Kopas received a salary of $150,000 in 2020 plus other compensation worth $31,200, the last year for which the organization’s IRS Form 990 detailing financial data was available through the website Guidestar. The Trust, whose assets totaled $14.5 million in 2020, had a net revenue of $192,360 in the covid-impacted year of 2020, when cultural venues were shut down. When permitted to reopen, those venues were limited in their capacity to reduce potential for spreading the virus.

In addition to Kopas’ position as CEO, the Trust is advertising on its website for a new controller.

Kopas succeeded Mike Langer of New Kensington, who resigned in November 2018 after serving 16 years in the position. At the time of her hiring, the Trust said it had conducted a national search for Langer’s successor and had 50 applications from across the country.

Kopas joined the Trust in 2019 from a position as executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of Westmoreland County, a position she held since 2009. She also previously served as executive director of the Westmoreland County Land Bank, an agency she founded in 2014.

She is married to Ted Kopas, a current Democratic candidate for Westmoreland County commissioner who served as a commissioner from 2010 to 2020.

Cultural Trust history

The nonprofit organization was founded in 1992 as the Westmoreland Trust, the governing body of the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, which was funded in 1969 by local philanthropist Katherine Mabis McKenna.

It was renamed the Westmoreland Cultural Trust in 2005 to reflect its wider mission of “taking on a leadership role in the development and enhancement of the cultural life of the Westmoreland County region,” according to the Trust website.

In additional to the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, the organization owns and operates The Palace Theater, the Union Trust Building and the Stark/James Building, all in downtown Greensburg.

In 2016, the Trust created an Incubator for the Arts initiative, providing short-term, subsidized leases on studio, classroom and exhibit space for local and student artists in the Union Trust Building. It hosts the Art in the Alley public art space in the adjacent alley.

The Trust presents the annual Greensburg Music Fest and collaborates with and supports other local arts and culture organizations and events, including the annual Greensburg Arts Walk.

It also instituted the “Wings Across Westmoreland” initiative in which black metal-coated angels wings with designs of local landmarks, were hung in Greensburg, Jeannette, Irwin, Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant, Smithon, Trafford, Vandergrift and Youngwood. The wings were installed so that people could have their photos taken with wings sprouting from their shoulders.

The Trust had owned the historic Greensburg Train Station and oversaw the renovations in the late 1990s, bringing to life what had been a deteriorating building that still served as a stop for passengers riding Amtrak trains. Facing significant costs for renovation and maintenance, the Trust sold the property in 2015.