Union Grove Gallery, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University Circle

Embodied: Contemporary Takes on the Dress, October 4 - November 3, 2022

Reception - Thursday, October 20th, 2022: 5- 6:30pm

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Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center, Tuscaloosa AL

Shaken By The Roots, January 11 - February 28, 2022

Reception - February 4th, 7-9pm

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Alabama State Council on the Arts

2021 Visual Arts Fellowship Recipient

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ArtsRevive
Snapshots, Stitches and Selma Blues, November 2021

The third annual incarnation of this wonderful event will bring on board new artists and musicians along with new needlepointed portraits and photographs, to once again bring the arts and live blues music to the greater Selma and Dallas county communities.

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Shelby County Arts Council
I Am Music, August – September 2021

Expanded from the Snapshots, Stitches and Selma Blues exhibition, this 2 person show will bring community outreach to Columbiana and the surrounding area through arts and music. Needlepointed portraits and award-winning blues photography will be on display in the EBSCO Fine Arts Gallery while each weekend, live jazz and blues music will be performed in the state-of-the-art Black Box Theater. Homage has paid to many of the musicians performing through both needlepointed portraits and blues photographs.

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Wiregrass Museum of Art

July – December 2021

Chosen as one of a select group of artists to exhibit artworks designated from the private collection of notable Alabama collector, Paul Barrett. These pieces will be on display at the Wiregrass Museum of Art for six months.

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Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

May - August 2021

Two pieces juried into this 44th Biennial Montgomery Art Guild Exhibition.

Foy Gilmore Goodwin Memorial Award.

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Roundhouse Gallery
Drifting Notes, April 2021

This 30 piece solo exhibition on the Jacksonville State University campus included 25 wall hung framed needlepoints, tapestries and story quilts along with 4 stitched chairs and a vintage needlepointed coat with an artist talk opening night.

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Gadsden Museum of Art
Shaken by the Roots, January – March 2021

Along with wall-hung needlepointed portraits, this thirty piece exhibition installed in both Courtyard Galleries included 4 needlepointed and refinished chairs in addition to a vintage stitched coat. On view from March 12-April 30th, 2021 with a live talk Friday, Mar 5th at 6:30pm.

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ArtsRevive
Snapshots, Stitches and Selma Blues, November 2020

The second annual public outreach experience which showcases needlepointed portraits and blues photography, is expanded to include 4 new Alabama visual artists along with 4 Alabama based blues bands for an opening night of arts, music and community.

 

Lowe Mill
ALWCA 80/20 Juried Show, October 2020

Juried into this annual exhibition which draws attention to the gender pay gap with a piece titled “Simone de Bouvoir”.

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ArtsRevive
18th Annual Roots and Wings Juried Show, March 2020

Selected as one of many artists to participate in this annual juried exhibition of both current and former Alabama residents.

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Johnson Center for the Arts
Shaken by the Roots, January  – February 2020

Solo exhibition of 35 needlepointed portraits including the award-winning tapestry “We Have the Freedom to Rise Above Our Dark Past”, a piece created to tell the story of Birmingham AL’s rise from years of civil unrest to become the inspiring city it is today.

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Arts Revive, Selma AL
Snapshots, Stitches and Selma Blues, October 2019

As the catalyst of this event, alongside an award-winning blues photographer, needlepointed portraits highlight some of Alabama’s great blues musicians in addition to historic jazz and blues icons. This arts and music experience, created as a community outreach event, includes three legendary bands performing on the outdoor patio stage overlooking the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge at the opening reception. Many of the performing musicians are depicted in each of the artist’s mediums in the exhibition.

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Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Montgomery Art Guild Museum Exhibition, May – July 2019

Montgomery Art Guild juried exhibition of art from artists around the south, hosted at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Landmark Award.

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Artfields, Lake City SC

Artfields Seventh Edition, April – May 2019

Selected to participate in this prestigious event. Artfields presents up to 400 artworks by the best artists in the Southeast to exhibit in Lake City, South Carolina in galleries, warehouses, restaurants, shops and other venues.

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Morgan-Madison Cultural Arts Center, Madison GA
Connexus, February - April 2019

Steffen Thomas Museum, Morgan-Madison Cultural Arts Center and the Morgan County African American Museum came together to celebrate Black History Month, displaying works of art by Leithauser-Lesley, Chris Cook, Steffen Thomas, and Charmaine Minnifield.

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Steffen Thomas Museum, Madison GA
Faces In Time, January – February 2019

Eighteen-piece exhibition of jazz needlepoints presented alongside portraits by the late Steffen Thomas and portrait painter Chris Cook. A lecture by both artists was followed by an interactive question-answer session with museum patrons.

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Birmingham Public Library

For Freedoms Exhibition, October 2018

Hosted by the Birmingham Public Library, this is a juried show of art expressing each artist’s personal interpretation of what the Four Freedoms, as declared by Franklin Roosevelt during his time as president, means to them.

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Kentuck Art Center, Northport/Tuscaloosa AL
Needlepoints by Leanna Leithauser-Lesley, September 2018

Twenty-piece exhibition including a large embroidered tapestry, three chairs, and a Billie Holiday needlepoint sewn onto the back of a vintage coat, displayed on a dress form. The exhibit presented jazz biographies of each musician in an effort to educate the public about the role of jazz music in the Civil Rights Movement.

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Alabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham AL
Spring Jazz Gala: A Celebration of National Jazz Appreciation Month, April 2018

Thirty-piece jazz music exhibition including five needlepointed chairs on pedestals in the lobby and exhibition space of the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater to complement National Jazz Appreciation Month. A newly completed portrait of local Jazz and Blues great, Elnora Spencer, was unveiled as part of the celebration, with her in attendance.

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Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham AL
Textures of Jazz-Threads of Change, February 2018

Two-month solo Black History Month exhibition featuring a collection of jazz portraiture from existing works as well as new pieces. These artworks celebrate the history of Jazz, while incorporating an educational experience for the viewing public. Integrated into this exhibit was a two-day workshop designed to engage library patrons to learn the art of needlepoint.

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Historic Balzer Theater at Herren’s, Atlanta GA
Eleanora Fagan, February 2018

Twenty-piece jazz music needlepointed portrait exhibition, integrated with Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, a theatrical production set at Emerson’s Bar on Philly’s south side. An audience gathers to witness, unknowingly, one of legend Billie Holiday’s last solo performances. Newly created pieces specifically to accompany this riveting and revealing story included Dizzy Gillespie, Ethel Waters, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Blakey, and Louis Armstrong. Theatrical Outfit is a performance art theater-nonprofit organization.

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Historic Balzer Theater at Herren’s, Atlanta GA
Textures of Jazz-Threads of Change, April 2017

​Twenty-piece jazz music needlepointed portrait exhibition, integrated with Simply Simone-The Music of Nina Simone, a theatrical journey chronicling the life of the legendary American icon. Other notable pieces created specifically to help tell this story included Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry and Medgar Evers. The Theatrical Outfit is a performance art theater-nonprofit organization.

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National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis TN
Jazz and Blues: Threads of American Music, June - July 2016

Twenty-five-piece jazz music needlepointed portrait exhibition to coordinate with African-American Music Appreciation Month as declared by President Barack Obama in January 2016, including a forty-five minute closed lecture and reception for museum members.

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Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham AL
Jazz: Thread of America, June – July 2007

Approached by BCRI to create a jazz needlepointed portrait exhibition for educational purposes, working in tandem with Dr. Frank Adams, Director of the Alabama Jazz Hall Of Fame, to bring to the public an event including jazz performances, lectures, and a jazz portrait exhibition.

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Education

Auburn University

Bachelor of Arts in Art Education with an emphasis on art history, figure construction, and figure drawing.

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Professional Experience

• Self-Employed Artist (Freelance)

• Curator

• Design, stitch and deliver custom, commissioned art pieces to clients

• Gallery, Museum, Performing Arts, Cultural Arts, University, and Civil Rights Exhibitions

• Work with and compete in juried exhibitions and competition