Leslie Newton retired from teaching for the Jay School Corporation in 2011, where she taught art for 36 years. She has a BA and MA in Art Education and an Endorsement in Gifted and Talented Education. She was the Staff Visual Artist and Curator at Arts Place, in Portland, IN, from September 2011, till Feb 2014.  In 2013, she helped start the Arts Place, Blackford County Arts Center, in Hartford City and was on their board till December 2016. She was the curator of their exhibits, until Jan 2023.

​

She is also an artist, currently working with a variety media, mostly of landscapes and Native American sites, from northern New Mexico. In 2007, she spent 6 weeks in Taos, New Mexico, as part of her Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship. She has been back to New Mexico several times and exhibits around Indiana. She had a solo exhibit in Anshan, China, March 2013.  Recently, she has started working on clay projects, at John Peterson’s studio,