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.  She is currently the curator at the Blackford County Arts Center, in Hartford City, IN.

She has been working on oil paintings, of landscapes and Native American scenes, from New Mexico. In 2007, she spent 6 weeks in Taos, New Mexico, as part of her Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship. Her most recent solo exhibit was in Anshan, China, March 2013.