Professional Development

Jonathan Adeyemi holds a BA (Hons), MA in African Studies (Art History), and an MBA in marketing management. He obtained a Ph.D. in Arts Management and Cultural Policy from Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom. Dr. Adeyemi was an Associate Lecturer in Arts Management and Cultural Policy at Queen’s University Belfast. He also served as the Coordinator of Creative Arts at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), where he was responsible for art education curriculum development and administration. With a paper titled: Power Dynamics in the art world: Navigating alternative systems, Dr. Adeyemi won the 2021 Ph.D. Student Research Award of the Sociology of Arts Research Networks (RN02), European Sociological Association (ESA). He contributed a chapter titled: Systematisation of Art in Nigeria to the Cuyler A. edited volume: Arts Management, Cultural Policy & the African Diaspora for Palgrave Macmillan. He is a member of The International Art Markets Studies Association (TIAMSA) and the European Sociological Association (ESA).

Alaine Arnott has worked with with the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the Senior Administrator for Education and Concerts & Lectures. After her time at The Met, she joined Tessitura Networks as Project Manager. She is currently Client Manager at ACME Technologies. Ms. Arnott holds a PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis and a MBA in Art/NonProfit Administration, both from University of Missouri-Columbia.

Ron has over 30 years experience providing executive level consultation services covering every aspect of developing complex cultural venues. In 2002, at the urging of clients, Ron left a group practice environment to launch VMS to provide bespoke consultation services to clients, architects, contractors, and facility operators.

Specific services include:

• Initial project validation and proforma development to align overall project expectations
• Needs assessments and spatial programming development to help ensure an overall successful effort
• Tailoring a selection process for the proper engagement of design consultants, contractors, and outside
  subject matter experts
• Development of appropriate contract format for the proper allocation of risk to best fit the project’s needs
• Establishment of necessary tools and controls to help clients monitor the design and construction effort
• Provide on-site review of the project progress from the initial concept design through completion of the
  punchlist, close-out, and commissioning
• Anticipating and developing proactive measures to mitigate unforeseen anomalies that could lead to
  contract disputes
  Ron has provided services to a mix of clients that range from very large multi-building campuses to smaller more intimate venues. Past clients with a brief description of services include:

• Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (NYC) – acted as the Executive Director responsible for overseeing the $1.2 billion renovation of the overall campus
• Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC) – provided internal auditing evaluation services (non- financial) to assist the executive leadership understand and correct project deficiencies
• The Shed at Hudson Yards (NYC) – engaged as the Owner’s Authorized Representative charged with overseeing the overall design and construction effort after significant challenging situations emerged
• National Arts Centre (ON) – formulation and assistance with the management of the design consultant selection process
• Writers Theater (IL) – facilitation of selecting the at-risk CM with GMP and providing regular construction progress updates, identification of cost exposures and mitigation strategies
• Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (FL)– development of a resurrection strategy to reallocate the overall project risk

Additional projects include:

• Aronoff Center for the Arts (Cincinnati)
• Binhai Performing Arts Centre (Tianjin)
• Brown Performing Arts Center (Providence)
• Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center (Atlanta)
• Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (Orlando)
• Harvard Memorial Church (Cambridge)
• Harvard River House Renovation (Cambridge)
• National Concert Hall (Dublin)
• Neal S. Blaisdell Center (Honolulu)
• Overture Center for the Arts (Madison)
• Players Theater (Columbus)
• Shuster Center for the Arts (Dayton)
• Theater Aspen (Aspen)
• Virginia G. Piper Theater (Scottsdale)
• Wortham Opera Theater (Houston)

Maria Bauman is an artist, administrator and community organizer. She has danced with Urban Bush Women, Nia Love/Blacksmith’s Daughter, Adele Myers and Dancers, Angela’s Pulse, Mendi + Keith Obadike, and jill sigman/thinkdance, and apprenticed with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. She was with Urban Bush Women for eight seasons, originating several roles, and  serving as the Associate Artistic Director of the company. In 2007 she founded MBDance, creating duets & small group dances from a sense of physical & emotional power, a desire for equity, and a fascination with intimacy & relationship. Ms. Bauman is also a teacher. She is an annual faculty member for the American Dance Festival Winter Intensive and Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute, and has been an adjunct professor of dance at Hunter College. Among other honors, she has received a 2014 CUNY Dance Initiative Residency Award, 2012-13 and 2009-10 Harlem Stage Fund for New Work via The Jerome Foundation, and a 2010-11 Dance Theater Workshop Studio Series. She has been recognized by the New York Foundation for the Arts as an Emerging Leader in the Arts.

Kara Medoff Barnett was appointed Executive Director of American Ballet Theatre, America’s National Ballet Company, in February 2016 following nearly nine years as a senior executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. At ABT, Barnett has advanced innovation and inclusion, supporting a robust slate of new productions and increasing diversity in the training pipeline. Since 2016, the Company has performed in Paris, Muscat, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Singapore and Hong Kong, bringing extraordinary art to audiences worldwide.

During her tenure at Lincoln Center, Barnett served as Director of Strategy and Business Development and Senior Director of the Capital Campaign for the transformative redevelopment of Lincoln Center’s iconic 16-acre campus. In 2012, Barnett became the founding Managing Director of Lincoln Center International (LCI), established to extend Lincoln Center’s brand, facilitate artistic exchange, and advise government leaders, philanthropists, and developers on the planning and management of cultural infrastructure projects around the globe. Under Barnett’s leadership, LCI launched the Lincoln Center Global Exchange, an annual conference for international leaders and change agents to advance the role of art and culture in addressing critical challenges facing our collective future.

Barnett has produced plays on and off Broadway, and she received a Tony® Award for the 2003 Broadway revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Theatre Wing, a member of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board and a 2015 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. In 2014, she was named as a member of “40 Under 40” in Crain’s New York Business.

Barnett attended Duke University on a Trinity Scholarship, graduating summa cum laude, and received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Chantal Bernard is the Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnership & Corporate Relations for the New York Botanical Garden—a position she assumed in July 2019. As Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnership & Corporate Relations for the New York Botanical Garden—a position she assumed in July 2019. She has over 16+ years in sponsorship/strategic partnerships and is responsible for raising 2.5+ million for her division by generating funds from both marketing and philanthropic areas of corporate sectors as well as foreign governments. Ms. Bernard oversees a departmental budget and seeks to create opportunities for sponsors by providing them with meaningful strategic partnerships. 

Before joining NYBG, Chantal spent a decade at BAM and several years at Macy’s negotiating strategic partnerships. Though having a corporate background, Ms. Bernard is not a stranger to the non-profit sector; prior to Macy’s she spent several years at non profit organizations creating community programs, developing volunteer engagement initiatives, and acting as a child advocate and providing counseling for families and children. 

Bernard holds a B.A. degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is a member of Women in Development (WID), New York. She is strongly committed to volunteerism and has held key volunteer roles at various organizations. 

She is a native New Yorker and currently resides in Brooklyn. 

Ms. Blieberg has more than 30 years experience in philanthropy and communications, including having served as Vice President and Executive Director of the CBS Foundation and Vice President of Communications for CBS. As Principal of Helene Blieberg Associates LLC, she has provided management and communication services to arts and cultural organizations, corporations and foundations since 2001. She specializes in assisting organizations in executive transition and has served in that capacity to six organizations, including the American Craft Council, ArtTable, CEC ArtsLink and Meredith Monk/The House Foundation for the Arts. She has also provided philanthropic and management services to Pfizer, American Express, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone’s Cultural Industry Investment Fund, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, and the Center for Arts Education, among others. She currently serves on the boards or advisory councils of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, the Support Center for Nonprofit Management, Coro New York Leadership Center, and the Arts & Business Council/New York. In 2012 Ms. Blieberg stepped into the role of Interim Executive Director with Ballet Hispanico. She was succeeded later that year by current Executive Director Lee Koonce.  

Courtney Blackwell Burton leads the development and implementation of Juilliard's Global Ventures (JGV) suite of digital educational products. During her time at JGV, she has spearheaded the release of two apps for iPhone and iPad, one of which was named by Apple as “Best of 2015” and “Runner-up" for App of the Year China. She has frequently moderated discussions on the performing arts, education, and technology with noted panelists including Dr. Joseph Polisi, actors Adam Driver and Joanne Tucker, playwright Katori Hall, and American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, Marcelo Gomez. Prior to her current position, she was Director of Career Services at Juilliard where she increased departmental revenue by 100% during her tenure and secured funding for Juilliard’s first entrepreneurship grant program. She also led the first rebranding and marketing campaign for Hire Juilliard Performers, a service connecting Juilliard performers with national and international performance opportunities. Courtney is a former professional dancer who has held engagements with Ballet Theater Munich, the Thang Dao Dance Company in New York, and as a guest with Netherlands Dance Theater at the Lincoln Center Festival. Courtney is on the Advisory Board for Springboard Danse Montreal, holds a Bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School, and a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

Martha Chapman is a dance educator, dancer, choreographer and director in the NY area.  She co-directs and dances with Omega Dance Company, where she has set works for the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and multiple New York venues including St. Ignatius Loyola and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  As a dance educator for over 2 decades, she is currently on faculty at Steps on Broadway, Peridance Capezio Center and Dancewave Inc. She has served on non-profit Boards and directs dance ministries with her home congregation, The Church of the Village, where Omega is an Artist-in-Residence.  

Martha’s teaching philosophy focuses on combining joy in movement with knowing proper alignment for one’s own body.  At Steps on Broadway she has taught young dancers for over 20 years as well as older children and open classes for adults.  At Peridance Capezio Center she is a popular ballet teacher for professional, pre-professional and recreational dancers, and at Dancewave Inc. her classes gear towards teens.  Martha is quoted extensively in The Pointe Book, a publication about ‘pointe’ technique, and was featured twice in Dance Teacher Magazine.   

She performed with NYC Opera Ballet, NJ Ballet, Ontario Ballet Theater and Cork City Ballet in Ireland among others including at the Edinburgh Festival and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors.  Her ballet performing repertoire spanned such classics as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake to character roles and contemporary works, some created on her. 

• Omega Dance Company: www.omegadancecompany.org
• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthachapman/
• Faculty Listings: 
• https://stepsnyc.com/youth-programs/faculty/bio/Martha-Chapman/
• http://www.peridance.com/facprofile.cfm?FID=1138&name=Martha%20_Chapman
• https://dancewave.org/martha-chapman/#more-2534

• The Pointe Book, Second Edition, Princeton Book Company Publishers, ISBN 0-87127-261-X
• Dance Teacher Magazine:
• December 2014: https://www.dance-teacher.com/martha-chapman-2392580641.html

November 2016: https://www.dance-teacher.com/sacred-dancers-talk-role-dance-religious-worship-2392812927.html

Steven Chaikelson has been the adjunct assistant professor and theatre management program coordinator for the Columbia University School of the Arts since 1998.

He is the first official graduate of Columbia University's joint degree program in law and theatre management. Chaikelson co-authored Theatre Law: Cases and Materials, (with Robert M. Jarvis) Carolina Academic Press, 2004.

Chaikelson has managed and produced theatrical productions on and off Broadway and across the United States. His Broadway theatre management credits include Elaine Stritch At Liberty, 2002; George Gershwin Alone, 2001; A Moon for the Misbegotten, 2000; The Price, 1999–2000; Death of a Salesman (Broadway and Showtime productions, starring Brian Dennehy), 1999; Fool Moon, 1995 and 1998; Freak, 1998; Julia Sweeney's God Said Ha!, 1996.

Chaikelson received his J.D from Columbia Law School in 1993 and his A.B. from Columbia College in 1989.

Carolyn joined the staff at The New Victory Theater in New York in the summer of 2012.  She has also  worked for Center for Arts Education and The New School for Music in New York City. Carolyn is a graduate of the Arts Administration program at Teacher’s College Columbia University.

Arthur Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer of LaPlaca Cohen. In this role he consults with major arts organizations throughout the world, working with staff, Board members, and funders on communications and strategic planning issues. To ensure that clients always have access to the latest best-practice examples and cutting-edge research from around the globe, Mr. Cohen leads LaPlaca Cohen’s Culture Track—the largest ongoing market research study of the American cultural consumer. He lectures internationally and is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University. Mr. Cohen  is the Vice Chairman of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, and a Board member of: the Architectural League of New York; The University of Pennsylvania/Institute of Contemporary Art; and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Modern and Contemporary Collections Committee of the Harvard University Art Museums, and the Visiting Committee of the Center for Experimental Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Marie Clapot is Associate Museum Educator for Accessibility at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this capacity, she and her colleagues provide oversight of key Access programs while also focusing on embedding accessible and inclusive

practices into the fabric of the museum at large. Marie has trained museum professionals in the US and abroad, and consults for

nonprofit agencies on accessibility and inclusive practices. She also co-convened the last two Multimodal Approaches to Learning conferences with the Met (2009, 2012). Marie’s publications include Insights from an educator into crafting scent-based

experiences in museum galleries” in Bridging Communities Through Socially Engaged Art, Focal Press/Routledge, 2019; “Musings on healing, museums, and disability” in Museum-Based Art Therapy: A Collaborative Effort with Access, Education, and Public Programs, Routledge to be published 2021. Her research includes the role of olfaction in gallery teaching and learning. She completed an intensive Perfumery Course at the Grasse Institute for Perfumery.

She holds a Master in Art Education from Indiana University, and an MA in Heritage Development, from Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO), Quimper (France) and MA in Heritage Development form UBO (Brest).

Adrian Danchig-Waring is a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, where he has performed since 2003. He was a founding member of Morphoses The Wheeldon Company (2007-2009), and has pursued project-based collaborations with artists such as Eliot Feld (Mandance, 2008), Luca Veggetti (The Bacchae, 2011), and Pontus Lidberg (Warriors, 2010 and Within (Labyrinth Within) 2012).

Adrian has originated roles in NYCB commissions by choreographers such as Mauro Bigonzetti, Kim Brandstrup, Boris Eifman, Peter Martins, Wayne McGregor, Benjamin Millipied, Justin Peck, Angelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon. He has also performed principal roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and Twyla Tharp, additionally performing in national and international Galas at the National Center for Performing Arts (Beijing), Festival Internacional de Ballet (Havana), New York City Center, New York State Theater (David H. Koch Theater, NY), The Vail International Dance Festival, The Copenhagen Opera, Norrlandsoperan (Sweden), Le Palais Garnier, Le Opéra Bastille, and Theatre du Chatelet (Paris), Teater Vanemuine (Tartu, Estonia), The Coliseum and Sadler's Wells (London).

Beginning in 2014, Adrian has worked in partnership with New York City Ballet’s Education Department and The Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center to develop a series of movement workshops for children with CP. This programming has expanded to include an ongoing partnership with NYU Langone focusing on young adults with Cerebral Palsy.

Adrian was a 2017/2018 Research Fellow at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. He is currently an Advisor to the New York Choreographic Institute.

Alex de Voogt is the Assistant Curator of African Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in the Division of Anthropology.

His diverse interests include the archaeology of Sudan, the dispersal of board games and the development of writing systems. He has studied leadership as well as stress and coping mechanisms of archaeologists in the field and used a series of African board games to study decision making processes. His current position allows for a better understanding of museum management practices while actively participating in the research agenda of the anthropology division.

Alex was a professor of organizational psychology at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, and a teacher in several MBA and management programs in Europe, where he first became interested in museum management. He has a PhD in the Social Sciences from Leiden University and and MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management.

Jeremy Dewey is an experienced cultural leader with a track record of building creative and effective programs, teams, and organizations. He is the founder of the Dewey Impact Group, a consulting firm partnering with nonprofit organizations to build capacity and elevate their community impact. He has held positions in executive leadership, resource development, finance, strategy, project management, and volunteerism, among others, at esteemed organizations such as COCA–Center of Creative Arts, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), New York City Ballet, DHR International, and Kansas Audio-Reader Network. He is also the Co-Founder of New York-based Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, which produces bold, original productions for young audiences and families. He holds a Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas.

Emma Dunch founded Dunch Arts in 2008. Today, her firm fields experienced consulting teams working with cultural clients on three continents and raising millions of dollars each year. Ms. Dunch has worked across the world with organizations including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance, Jazz at Lincoln Center, London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Corporate Theatre Fund, National Gallery of Australia, Playwrights Horizons and the Public Theater, among others. Dunch Arts client projects have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Crain’s New York Business. Ms. Dunch holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Bachelor of Music Performance in Opera from leading universities in her native Australia, and is a graduate of the League of American Orchestra’s Orchestral Management Fellowship Program.

Paloma is a NYC-based, Chilean-born performing arts manager and producer. She started her career in Santiago, Chile, where for almost a decade she managed physical-theater companies and their national tours, as well as a wide range of large-scale cultural events such as international summits, book fairs, and music festivals. In 2016, she moved to New York to pursue an MFA in Theater Management & Producing at Columbia University. Since then, she has called New York her home. After finishing her Masters, she worked as an Artist Services Rep at the iconic Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and as a Company Manager for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Today, she’s a core member of Lincoln Center’s Programming team. Most recently, she served as one of the lead producers for Lincoln Center’s Restart Stages, the organization’s initiative post COVID. Currently, she’s focused on overseeing and building Lincoln Center’s 2022 Summer Festival as well as supporting the overall Artistic Planning for the organization. With over a decade of experience creating and managing artistic projects, Paloma has worked across disciplines including theatre, dance, music, opera, and visual arts. She has a strong background in community outreach, partnership building, and audience development initiatives and she's committed to work relentlessly to create an equitable and radically inclusive field.

Dr. Fyrich is co-author of numerous research and strategic studies in the field of culture as well as educational projects addressed to cultural professionals. As an expert he is associated with AMU ROK Culture Observatory, NU Foundation and Best Place – European Place Marketing Institute, as well as a guest lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Estonia), European University Viadrina (Germany), University of the Arts in Poznan (Poland) and International Cultural Centre in Cracow (Poland). He is co-creator and co-ordinator of the first Polish postgraduate study programme in Audience Development, and a board member of Connecting Audiences International, a European magazine for cultural professionals.

Vince has more than 20 years of experience leading digital transformation projects in the performing arts. Vince currently serves as the Senior Vice President for Digital Strategy Innovation at the Curtis Institute of Music. He is also the Executive Director of the Curtis Innovation Lab and the Field-McFadden Chair of Digital Studies. Prior to Curtis, Vince served as the Vice President, Digital Strategy and Customer Experience for the New York Philharmonic where he oversaw digital strategy, media projects, and customer experience. Vince has taught various Digital Strategy courses, including for ARAD and several other other universities.

Jeffrey Golde is a “management and strategy consultant” in the arts and non-profit world. His varied career includes working in programming and production for non-profit arts producer UMS (University Musical Society) and providing administrative and financial consulting support to the Aquila Theatre. He also worked in marketing for WETA, the PBS/NPR affiliate in Washington D.C., where he managed and created advertising and promotions campaigns. Additional projects have included providing marketing and strategic consulting to 180 Partners, Trusty Sidekick, Columbia University Executive Education and a variety of other non-profit organizations. As a performer, he spent 11 years in the theatre industry as an actor, director and producer working in a variety of off-Broadway, regional theater and opera productions. He is also the co-Founder of the theater company Stone Soup Shakespeare bringing free Shakespeare performances to rural communities. He also works with professionals to develop their leadership and communication skills and facilitate staff and board strategic and development retreats. As a skilled coach he uses his diverse background in business and the arts to act as a sounding board for senior Executives. His background as an actor, director, teacher, founder and executive inform his teaching and facilitation style; highly experiential with original activities developed with his colleagues from the world of improvisation and theater. He teaches MBA and EMBA students at Columbia Business School and coaches and teaches senior executives in the Columbia Advanced Management Program. Jeffrey received his BA from Haverford College, obtained his theater training from Drama Studio London in the UK and earned his Executive MBA from Columbia University.

Dave Harper is an independent curator, critic, and consultant based in New York. From 2013 to 2016 he was a director at the online auction house Paddle8, focused on nonprofit fundraising, artist and institutional relations and special projects. Prior to that, he was the Visual Art Curator at the Brooklyn Academy of Music from 2006 to 2013. Currently, at Shandaken Project, an annual artist residency operated in collaboration with Storm King Arts Center in New Windsor, NY, he serves as member of the Board of Trustees.

Lesley Heller is the owner of Lesley Heller Workspace, a contemporary art Gallery on the Lower East Side. Workspace was founded in 2006 and opened its gallery in 2010 with a unique program of concurrent solo and guest curated exhibitions in two separate spaces.

Lesley Heller Workspace primarily highlights the work of emerging and underrepresented mid and late career artists. The Gallery acts as a forum for exploring fundamental ideas, issues and concerns in contemporary art, and as a launching point for a range of artists. Ms. Heller is a graduate of the Arts Administration Program at Teachers College Columbia University.

Pearl Hodiwala is from Sydney, Australia and moved to New York to pursue her Master's Degree. She graduated from the Arts Administration program in 2014.  She has a background in creative development, fundraising, producing and theatre management. She has worked as Philanthropy Coordinator at Belvoir Street Theatre, Producing Fellow at The Public Theater and Strategy and Business Development Coordinator at Disney Theatrical Group. Currently, Pearl is Projects and Operations Coordinator in the Theatrical Licensing division at Disney Theatrical Group.  Pearl is also Managing Director of Kaimera Productions, a member of the Women's Project Producers Lab 2014-2016.

Jun (Philip) Fang is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Colby College. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University. As a cultural sociologist studying China’s engagement with the West, he broadly addresses how contrasting forces of nationalism and globalization shape processes of creative production. His book project, titled When China Meets Hollywood: Global Collaboration and State Intervention in a Creative Industry, is an ethnography of how Chinese and Hollywood studios co-produce films, exploring the interplay of culture, markets, and politics. His research has been published in Poetics and Qualitative Sociology, among other journals, and has won fellowships from the Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies. Previously, he taught at the College of William & Mary and wrote columns for the China editions of The New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek.

 John Del Gaudio is the Producer of the about-to-open developmental space for directors/choreographers/devisers, the Mercury Store. Prior to that he was the Producing Director of The Bushwick Starr (where is still a consulting producer and reading series co-curator) and the Artistic Producer of Target Margin Theater (where he is an Associated Artist). As a producer, John has partnered with artists including Clare Barron, Jeremy O. Harris, Haruna Lee, Aya Ogawa, Kate Benson, Lee Sunday Evans, Heather Christian, Julia Jarcho, Corinne Donly, Asia Kate Dillon, William Burke, Sarah Cameron Sunde, Daamiah Mubashshir, Jillian Walker and Mei Ann Teo. He is the board chair and a company member of A Host of People in Detroit. He has served on grant panels for the Mellon Foundation, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Brooklyn Arts Council, and A.R.T./New York, the latter for whom he was also a board member. BS in Educational Theater from NYU and MPS in Arts & Cultural Management from Pratt.

Eric’s experience includes long-range strategic planning, scenario planning, and organizational learning & development, which he has deployed to clients across the arts & cultural sector including Spoleto Festival USA and the Walker Art Center (Strategic Planning), the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Row New York (Operational and Business Planning), The Wallace Foundation (Scenario Planning), and the Rhode Island School of Design (Concept Development & Analysis). He joined AEA from Disney Theatrical Group where he was Manager of Strategy & Business Development, advising the organization on its commercial live entertainment businesses worldwide. Prior to Disney, Eric served as Senior Advisor at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where he provided internal consulting and facilitated special projects for the President and executive team of the world’s largest performing arts center. Earlier in his career, Eric held a number of technical production and operations positions with Blue Man Group, the Broadway tour of Annie, and Cirque du Soleil, the latter of which included three new shows in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater technical production from Emerson College, an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and an MFA in theater management from the Yale School of Drama, the latter of which awarded him the George C. White Prize in Theater Management. He is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Winthrop University, the author of multiple business case studies in arts management, and is a member of the ROI Community of Global Innovators.

I am a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Barnard College. Previously, I was a postdoctoral scholar at the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University and a postdoctoral fellow at New York University. In 2018, I received my PhD in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. My research broadly considers the relationship between race, gender, organizations, and culture. My work is published in Poetics, Social Problems, Gender Issues, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, and Sociological Forum.

Kendal Henry is an artist and curator who lives in New York City and specializes in the field of public art for over 30 years. He is currently the Assistant Commissioner of Public Art at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

Jerry James is the Director of Teaching and Learning at the Center for Arts Education, overseeing all arts education programming and related research initiatives. Prior to joining CAE, Dr. James was a lecturer at the Museum of Modern Art and an international teaching artist at The Lincoln Center Institute. He has taught in a number of New York City public schools and universities, including PS/IS 51M, Hunter College and Teachers College, Columbia University. He is currently an adjunct professor in the graduate school of education at The School of Visual Arts. Dr. James holds an M.F.A. in painting from Yale University and an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. His awards include three fellowships from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Ely Harwood Schless Memorial Fund Prize for Painting from Yale University and  the Outstanding Teaching Award from Columbia University in 2006.

A licensed architect since 2003, Jonathan has over 20 years of experience working for noted architectural design firms and in the field of real estate development before becoming BAM’s Director of Capital Projects in 2010.  In this capacity, he is responsible for managing and developing all aspects of capital design and construction projects throughout the BAM campus.  Jonathan has earned Master’s Degrees in architecture from Yale University and in real estate development from New York University.  He currently resides in Brooklyn and has lived and worked in New York City since 1996.  

Organization: Brooklyn Academy of Music

Image credit: Ayse Alagoz.

Rachel Judlowe holds a B.A. from Williams College, with a focus on art history and architecture. From 1999–2006 she worked at the Museum of Modern Art, first in the Department of Education, where she produced the Museum’s audio-tours, and then in the Department of Architecture & Design where she oversaw coordination of the MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program as well as many public lectures and symposia. In 2006 Judlowe joined Ruder Finn, Arts & Communications Counselors where her work focused on new and expanding cultural institutions around the world, as well as the promotion of major cultural events. Additionally, she has undertaken a diverse group of art world and cultural projects, including the development and implementation of PR campaigns for art galleries, foundations, product launches, museum exhibitions, and a range of publications. In 2011, Judlowe partnered with Elizabeth Kubany to form Kubany Judlowe, LLC. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Architectural League.

Julia Kaganskiy, Director of NEW INC and is a recognized cultural producer across the art and technology fields. She previously served as Global Editor of the Creators Project, a partnership between VICE Media Group and Intel, and founded #ArtsTech Meetup, a group that brings together professionals from New York City’s museums, galleries, art-related start-ups, and digital artists. She has been cited by Fast Company (2011) and Business Insider (2013) as one of the most influential women in technology, and by Crain's New York Business (2015) as one of the most talented professionals under the age of 40 who are working in New York City. Additionally, she was listed and profiled in the 2012 AOL/PBS series MAKERS honoring women leaders.

Brooke Kamin Rapaport is Deputy Director and Martin Friedman Chief Curator at Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York. She is responsible for the program of commissioned outdoor public sculpture by contemporary artists. She was the Commissioner and Curator of the U.S. Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale with the exhibition Martin Puryear: Liberty/Libertà.

Since joining Phillips’s Photographs department in 2005, Vanessa Kramer Hallet has led her international team to the forefront of the international Photographs market. Featured in the Art + Auction December 2011 Power Issue for her achievements, Vanessa’s tenure at the Photographs department has been steadfastly defined by the successful introduction of emerging photographers to the secondary market and the setting of numerous world auction records for classic and contemporary photographers. Previously, she was at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA and worked in Client Services at Sotheby’s. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University in Art History and a postgraduate degree in American Fine and Decorative Arts from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

A native New Orleanian, Danielle King is a creative producer and arts administrator committed to championing the work and careers of contemporary, forward-thinking artists. Prior to joining the LMCC team in 2012, she supported the development and production of new plays throughout New York and regionally at theaters like The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, SoHo Rep, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, and for companies like Clubbed Thumb, SITI Company, 13P, P73, and the TEAM. She also spent six summers facilitating new play development at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference and, with Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg, designed and launched the National Directors Fellowship, which supports early-career directors across the country. Danielle holds a B.F.A. from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a M.A. in Arts Administration from Columbia University.

Nina Levent is an art historian and an expert in the fields of multisensory art, food and art, multimodal learning  and inclusion in museums.  Dr. Levent is the co-editor Food and Museums (2016), Multimodal Museum: The Multisensory Museum: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space (2011); Art Beyond Sight: A Resource Guide to Art, Creativity, and Visual Impairment (2005). Her research interests and expertise include multisensory museums, sensory design and learning, cultural inclusion, accessible museums, universal design, representation of disability and difference, representation of the body, sensory and perceptual normality.

Levent has lectured on accessibility and multi-sensory learning at museums around the world. She has trained museum staff in the US, Korea, Japan, France, Italy, Puerto Rico and Mexico. She is one of the principal organizers of the international conference on Multimodal Approaches to Learning that has been taking place every two years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2005. Dr. Levent served on the faculty of New York Art Academy, and has been the Executive Director of Art Beyond Sight. She is now the CEO of Sapar Contemporary Gallery + Incubator, where she is deeply engaged with international contemporary artists and curators.She received her Ph.D. from the Humboldt University in Berlin, and MA from the Moscow Lomonosov University.

Dwayne Linville received his Master’s Degree from Yale University in 1997.  He worked with the Ford Foundation as their Senior Grants Manager for a number of years, and has recently become the foundation’s Manager of Innovation and Implementation. Dwayne also serves as President-Executive Director of Dusan Tynek Dance Theatre which has received much critical acclaim since its debut, a little over ten years ago. The company is praised for its high level of innovation, sophistication, craftsmanship and extraordinary level of artistry from its dancers, live musicians and other artists.

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Mino has been living and working as an artist, educator, activist and arts administrator in NYC since 2000. People’s Theatre Project is a true passion project for Mino and she takes a very hands-on approach to the work. Each of the programs the organization has developed began with her in the role of teaching artist. NBC Latino recognized Mino as one of 10 Latinos with Heart and she has been profiled by FoxNews Latino, NBC Latino, El Diario, Manhattan Times, Listin Diario, El Nacional and other newspaper and magazine publications in the US and abroad. Mino has participated as a panelist and guest speaker throughout New York City and was the international orator for the Women of Success 2014 conference in Santo Domingo, DR. Mino received her BA in English Literature and Theatre from Manhattanville College and her MA in Peace Studies and Conflict Transformation from the Graduate Institute.

Audrey Lucas is a database enthusiast who is currently the Manager of Fundraising Data and Systems at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. She has worked with a number of databases, but has the longest tenure with Tessitura, which she has worked with since 2016. Prior to joining the Garden in 2021, Audrey worked at COCA—Center of Creative Arts where she honed her system administrator skills for five years. In spite of her passion for technology, she has a background in social work with a focus on macro practice and policy. She holds a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of South Alabama.

Albert Martínez-Fernández is an arts and entertainment business strategist, currently serving as the Budget Manager for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In this capacity, he plans and executes global financial planning processes and conducts data-intensive analyses for business optimization. Albert is also an Expert-in-Residence in Design Thinking Innovation for the MPA program at NYU. Previously, he launched a new strategic partnership program with Fortune 500 companies for The Metropolitan Opera and held various business and marketing roles across Europe in high-growth startups and multinational corporations within the travel, financial, and technology sectors. Albert has offered guest lectures at NYU, Pace University, and CUNY, and his contributions have received recognition from the Association of Arts Administration Educators and the “La Caixa” Foundation. Native to Spain, he is fluent in five languages and graduated in arts administration, business, and marketing from New York University, Aarhus University Business School, and Pompeu Fabra University.

Tamara McCaw is senior advisor at The Shed and founder of Public Assembly. At The Shed she also worked as chief civic program officer to commission a program that she developed with curator Emma Enderby.

As the Chief Information Officer at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Bridget leads an integrated technology division and is tasked with ensuring technology decisions and investments are scalable, sustainable, secure and are aligned with the strategic direction of the institution. Prior to taking on the role as CIO, Bridget lead the Business Systems team as it evolved the Museum’s use of data first starting with setting a solid foundation for data collection and governance in the fundraising database (Raiser’s Edge), moved onto optimizing for a capital campaign, and then onto expanding the data management role to also encompass admissions, retail, and email marketing. Today, the Business Systems team has oversight of these once disparate database systems and is guided by three core data principles: Collection, Accessibility, and Governance. Bridget earned a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and Marketing from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining the Whitney, Bridget was a consultant with Blackbaud, Inc. focusing on Arts & Cultural organizations where she gained insight into how data influences processes and organizational structures.

Rebecca McGinnis is the Senior Managing Educator for Accessibility at The Met. She and her colleagues are internationally recognized for their pioneering programs for people with disabilities, especially for blind and partially sighted people. These include Seeing Through Drawing, an innovative class for people who are blind or partially sighted led by teaching artists with various levels of vision; as well as Met Escapes, for people with dementia and their care partners; and Met Signs, a training program for Deaf people to become museum guides and regular programming in American Sign Language. Awards include the Lighthouse Guild’s Good Neighbor Award (2016), the American Foundation for the Blind’s Access Award (2014), the LEAD Award for Excellence in Accessibility Leadership (2011), and the American Council of the Blind Achievement Award in Audio Description for Museums (2011). Rebecca’s publications include “Islands of Stimulation: Perspectives on the Museum Experience, Present and Future” in The Multisensory Museum: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space, ed. Nina Levent and Alvaro Pascual Leone, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Rebecca co-convened with Art Beyond Sight the Multimodal Approaches to Learning conference (2005, 2007, 2009, 2012) and was a founding member and co-chair of the Museum Access Consortium (2000-2012). She is adjunct faculty in Johns Hopkins University’s Museum Studies MA program, where she teaches Accessibility in the Museum. She holds MAs in Art History and Museum Studies and is a doctoral candidate in Cognitive Psychology at Teachers College Columbia University.

Michael Mason is responsible for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections and educational and cultural programs at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Under Mason’s leadership, the center completed its first strategic plan, increased work on cultural sustainability and intercultural dialogue, and expanded community-based cultural heritage documentation and collaboration. During his tenure, the center has strengthened its financial base by starting an endowment, raising more than $2.5 million as part of the Smithsonian’s Capital Campaign and accepting the second-largest gift in the center’s history. Mason has invested in bringing talented staff to the center, hired a new Smithsonian Folklife Festival director, a deputy director and a curator for cultural and linguistic revitalization.

Mason was appointed director at the center in April 2013. Previously he worked at the National Museum of Natural History, which he joined in 1994 as an exhibit developer and co-curator on the “African Voices” exhibit. In 2007, he became the chief of exhibit development and project management, then in 2009 the director of exhibitions. During this time he was instrumental in the development and opening of the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins in 2010. Mason first joined the Smithsonian in 1992, working at the Anacostia Community Museum as a researcher and exhibit developer for the “Black Mosaic” exhibition. A champion of cultural sustainability, Mason is one of the leaders of the Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices Initiative, a signature program of the Consortia for Understanding the American Experience and World Cultures.

Mason earned his bachelor’s degree in American studies at the University of Oregon. Trained as a folklorist, he earned his master’s and doctorate degrees at Indiana University. He has been studying the cultures of the African diaspora since 1987. His book, Living Santeria: Rituals and Experiences in an Afro-Cuban Religion, was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 2002 and was nominated for the Victor Turner Award for Ethnographic Writing. He is also part of the founding faculty of the Masters of Arts in Cultural Sustainability Program at Goucher College in Towson, Md.

Dael Orlandersmith previously collaborated with the Goodman on STOOP STORIES during the 2009/2010 Season. Ms. Orlandersmith first performed STOOP STORIES in 2008 at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and Apollo Theater’s Salon Series; Washington, DC’s Studio Theatre produced its world premiere in 2009. BLACK N’ BLUE BOYS/BROKEN MEN was developed as a co-commission between the Goodman and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where it was staged in May 2012. Her play HORSEDREAMS was developed at New Dramatists and workshopped at New York Stage and Film Company in 2008, and was performed at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2011. BONES was commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum where it premiered in 2010. Ms. Orlandersmith premiered THE BLUE ALBUM, in collaboration with David Cale, at Long Wharf Theatre in 2007. YELLOWMAN was commissioned by and premiered at McCarter Theatre in a co-production with The Wilma Theater and Long Wharf Theatre. Ms. Orlandersmith was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play for YELLOWMAN in 2002. THE GIMMICK, commissioned by McCarter Theatre, premiered in their Second Stage OnStage series in 1998 and went on to great acclaim at Long Wharf Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop; Ms. Orlandersmith won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for THE GIMMICK in 1999. Her play MONSTER premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in November 1996. Ms. Orlandersmith has toured extensively with the Nuyorican Poets Café (Real Live Poetry) throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. YELLOWMAN and a collection of her earlier works have been published by Vintage Books and Dramatists Play Service. Ms. Orlandersmith attended Sundance Institute Theatre Lab for four summers and is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim and the 2005 PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for a playwright in mid-career. She is the recipient of a Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrights Fellowship and an Obie Award for Beauty’s Daughter. 2012/13 Ms Orlandersmith wrote and performed in a solo play called “ Black n blue boys/ Broken men’ which was commissioned by the Goodman theatre and coproduced and performed in and by Berkeley rep and the Goodman theatre. 2014/2015 Ms Orlandersmith wrote and performed a solo memoir play called FOREVER which was done at the kirk Douglas theatre in los Angele in 2014.

2015 the play was performed at the Long wharf and New York theatre workshop. Jan 2016 there will be a production of the play at Portland Center stage in Oregon 2016. In 2017 FOREVER was done in july at the Abbey theatre in Dublin..in fall of 2016 Orlandersmith wrote and performed ‘Until the flood ‘ which was commissioned by St louis rep. in 2018 it will be done at Rattlestick theatre in new York, Milwaukee rep, the Goodman, and ACT Seattle . Ms Orlandersmith is currently working on two commissions .Ms Orlandersmith’s play ‘ Lady In Denmark ‘ will be opening Fall of 2018 at the GOODMAN theatre. In Spring 2019 she will perform UNTIL THE FLOOD at Portland Centerstage and in Summer of 2019 will perform the play at the Galwayarts festical.. she is currently working on a book of autofiction.

George Papagiannis began his career as a news journalist working in Washington DC and Boston, as well as overseas. In 2007 he joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) working at their headquarters in Paris as Program Specialist with the Division of Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace. In 2009 he took on the role of Officer in Charge of UNESCO operations in Baghdad. There he helped UNESCO media development portfolio as well as manage $50 Million in projects related to UNESCO mission including preservation of cultural heritage, pedagogy and teacher training, curriculum development in higher education, and hydrology projects such as the restoration of the ancient Kharez or Kanat water system.  Mr. Papagiannis is currently working for UNESCO as an External Relations and Information Officer, helping Americans gain a deeper understanding of UNESCO and its mission.

Emily Rasmussen is the Co-founder and CEO of Grapevine, a collaborative giving platform. She was the founding Executive Director of NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, launched the Lincoln Center at the Movies global media initiative, and developed innovative financing models for impact at Enterprise Solutions to Poverty. Emily has consulted on event cinema for Disney Theatrical Group, taught Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at SUNY Purchase, and spent two years developing microfinance and fair trade programs in India. She is a member of the LISC Emerging Leaders Council, holds a B.A. from Occidental College in Diplomacy, World Affairs, and Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Lai-Lin Robinson is an arts administrator and dancer from Washington, DC. She began with "The Bush" as an intern, then began working as UBW Marketing and Development Assistant and later as Program Assistant and Manager of Operations and Touring. Lai-Lin currently supports UBW’s programming with her work on tour with the company, in assisting the production of new work and helping the creation and operation of the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center. Lai-Lin graduated from Fordham University with a BA in Communications and Media Studies and a minor in Spanish Language.

Cynthia Round is the Senior Vice President, Marketing and External Relations, for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is responsible for global brand stewardship, marketing and communications for the organization. Prior to joining the Met in 2013, Ms. Rounds oversaw brand strategy and marketing for United Way Worldwide, the nation’s largest privately held non-profit. She began her career in brand management at the Procter & Gamble Company, working in both the USA and Italy. She went on to work for Ogilvy Worldwide as Senior Partner and Executive Group Director. Ms. Round is a frequent guest-lecturer on global branding and social marketing at college campuses across the country, most recently NYU, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins. Her volunteer work includes the Ad Council and the board of the Advertising Educational Foundation.  She is past-chair of the board for Soho Rep Theatre and the 2009 American Marketing Association Nonprofit Conference.

Whitney Rutter is the Director of Business Strategy, developing future projects for Local Projects. She previously held positions as the Director of Sales at Antenna International, Senior Account Executive at Patron Technology, and the Assistant Director of Membership and Development at The Museum of Modern Art. Whitney holds a MA in International Affairs from CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in Cultural Studies (Art & Environmental Studies) from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to her work at LP, she is the President of the Board of Directors of ArtTable, a non-profit professional organization dedicated to the women's leadership in the Visual Arts.

Vernon Scott is a graduate of the Juilliard School and has danced and toured the world with several dance companies including Feld Ballet, Elisa Monte, Stephen Petronio, Pilobolus, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris (performing in The Hard Nut and L’Allegro Moderato ed il Pensorato) and finally seven years with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project (where he also served as the Rehearsal Coordinator) and premiered his own work “Layers” at the company. He has appeared in benefits and galas at Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall and others. He then shifted gears and eventually became the National Director of Showrooms for Grange Furniture and finally the National Public Relations Manager for Aga Ranges, Marvel and Northland Refrigeration prior to moving to BAC. Mr. Scott serves on not for profit boards such as The Martha Hill Dance Fund as President, and is the Coordinating Producer of the 2014 documentary Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter; and as Vice-President of Full Circle Productions, which produces 360° Dance Company where he is the Director of Development and Special Events. He is overjoyed to keep a toe in the studio with coaching and setting the works of 360° Dance Company’s Artistic Director Martin Lofsnes, as well as coaching the National Young Arts modern dance finalists in Miami, Fl .

Jeff Stark is the editor of the long-running Nonsense NYC, a weekly email list for independent art and Do-It-Yourself events. As an artist, Mr. Stark creates site specific works which emphasize the significance and spectacle of collective experience. His diverse projects range from secret dinners to full-scale theatrical productions that make sometimes unauthorized use of public and private spaces. Mr. Stark also writes and directs plays, makes short films, prints, and books, and organizes large groups of artists. His projects are collaborative and often self-produced. His work has been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and News Hour, as well as by international media organizations like ARD Germany, the BBC, and NHK in Japan.

Jill Sternheimer has served as Director, Public Programming at Lincoln Center for the past year.  Prior to that she was the Producer, Public Programming for 8 years, working to produce and program two of the major summer festivals at Lincoln Center: Midsummer Night Swing and Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

A native of Cleveland, Sternheimer is a graduate of Boston University and has lived in New York for more than 20 years.  She has been working in the field of popular music production for most of her career, including stints with Festival Productions, which produces the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest, and at WFUV Radio, where she served as Promotion Director.  Her expertise is putting together shows that honor the legacies of American music, be it pop, jazz, Americana, rhythm & blues, etc. Sternheimer finds the artists that exemplify the best in a particular genre, and packages them into one-of-a-kind events that both entertain and educate the audience.

Glenn Alan Stiskal is the Director of Development at Signature
Theatre: a non-profit, Off-Broadway theatre with a mission dedicated
to celebrating playwrights and giving them an artistic home at
its Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre complex on
West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry. Prior to Signature, Glenn
spent nine years working for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM),
most recently as an Associate Vice President for Development. His
experience in the non-profit world encompasses nearly two decades
of extensive experience in fundraising for the performing arts.

Immediately following college, Glenn started his career in arts
administration, working five years for Roundabout Theatre
Company's Development department where he co-created Hiptix,
Roundabout's low-price ticket program for theatergoers 18-35. He
then went on to oversee multiple areas of Development at Second
Stage Theatre. After Second Stage, he led the Special Events
department at New York City Center and then joined BAM in 2008 in
a similar role, where he was responsible for planning BAM's 150th
Year Gala as well as benefits in conjunction with Merce Cunningham
Dance Company (in its final year) and The Old Vic.

Glenn became BAM's Director of Major Gifts in 2012, where he
worked closely with board leadership to grow the individual giving
program, before assuming the Associate Vice President role
responsible for the operations of the Major Gifts, Special Events,
Patron Services, and Membership departments.

Glenn has the honor of serving on several non-profit boards and is a
lifelong theatre lover. He lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his
husband and daughter.

Keith Stubblefield is the Chief Financial Officer and VP for Finance & Administration of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). As the CFO of the $50MM organization, Keith is responsible for financial operations, as well as facilities and information technology staff. Institutional advocacy efforts also fall under Keith’s purview as he and his staff lead all government and community relations work. Keith also leads BAM’s capital projects efforts, with two separate projects underway worth a combined total of $60MM. Keith manages the investment of the BAM Endowment Trust, with $100MM in assets.

Prior to coming to BAM in 2006, Keith worked as the Chief Financial officer of Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2003-2006) and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum (2000-2003). Before moving to Brooklyn, Keith worked in the health and human services nonprofit sector in Philadelphia. Keith holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Carl Sylvestre (BA, MA, MBA) is a seasoned arts manager who has held senior positions at many cultural institutions in the U.S. including, the Metropolitan Opera, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Theatre Workshop and Theatre Forward.

Kejia Wu is a faculty member of the Art Business MA program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, an adjunct
faculty member of Claremont Graduate University and a columnist for the Financial Times Chinese
edition.

Before joining Sotheby’s Institute, she oversaw Asia projects and strategies at Sotheby’s in the Office of
the CEO while based in New York. Prior to Sotheby’s, Kejia worked in Asia for more than a decade
advising various art organizations on projects including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert
Museum, the first Gerhard Richter retrospective at the National Art Museum of China, the Chinese
Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennial, Art Dubai and ArtSingapore. She was a co-founder of the East
Modern Art Center (EMAC), the first nonprofit contemporary art center in Beijing, in charge of its
contemporary art programs and operations. The art performance created at EMAC, Dancing with
Farmers, was featured at the Chinese Pavilion of the 56th Venice Biennial in 2015.
 
Kejia is a trustee of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, which is renowned
for the faculty and alumni like Philip Guston, Christopher Wool and Cecily Brown. She co-authored The
Global Art Importation and Exportation Tax Report commissioned by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and
the Chinese Association of Auctioneers. In 2015, Kejia was named by the Financial Times Chinese
edition as a spokesperson for its “Ten Year Ten People” Anniversary in China.
 
Kejia holds an MBA degree from Yale School of Management and lives in New York.

Lumi Tan is an Assistant Curator at The Kitchen, New York. She has also produced numerous music, performance, dance, and literature events including those with Kyle Abraham, Rhys Chatham, The New Inquiry, and Steven Reker.  She has previously been the Guest Curator at the FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais, Dunkerque, France, having being awarded the 2009-2010 H+F Curatorial Grant; a director at Zach Feuer Gallery, New York; and curatorial assistant at MoMA/P.S.1, New York.  Independently, she has curated over 20 exhibitions in New York and Europe. She is a frequent contributor to frieze and Artforum.com, and has contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues. She has also written articles for  Artforum, Frieze, and The New York Times. She received a B.A. in Art History from Bryn Mawr College and an M.A. from Hunter College, New York.

Rebecca Taylor is Executive Vice President at FITZ & CO, a strategic communications and marketing firm specializing in arts + culture. She oversees the media and social media teams and leads many of the agency’s international accounts. Prior to joining FITZ & CO Rebecca was Communications Director at MoMA PS1, where she strategically led the campaigns for Mike Kelley, Rain Room, EXPO 1: New York, Now Dig This!, September 11, and many other critically-acclaimed exhibitions. Additionally, Rebecca spearheaded communications campaigns at The Getty and Museum of Contemporary Art.  Rebecca lectures extensively on arts marketing, communications, and social media. Recently she has presented at Christie's in New York and Art Basel Sponsorship Summit in Berlin among other national and international presentations. She is also a contributing writer to Khan Academy’s Smarthistory (Contemporary Art) and the Huffington Post (Arts & Culture); a member of numerous professional groups, and also serves on several patron councils.

Hrag Vartanian is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic, the award-winning art blogazine based in Brooklyn, NY. His work has appeared in countless publications, and he has been invited as a guest commentator on Al Jazeera, WNYC, KCRW, and other national and international media outlets. In addition to his writing and commentary, he has curated numerous exhibitions, including #TheSocialGraph, which was the first exploration of the evolving landscape of social media art back in 2010. He regularly writes and lectures about performance art, the online art world, street art, and multiculturalism.

Veken Gueyikian is the co-founder and publisher of Hyperallergic, and founder of Nectar Ads. Hyperallergic is an award-winning art blogzine based in Brooklyn NY. Nectar Ads is the first online ad network devoted exclusively to the visual arts.

Melinda Wang graduated from Princeton University and received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She currently serves as Executive Director of New York Artists Equity,  a non-profit organization founded in 1947 to promote opportunities for artists. Artists Equity operates Equity Gallery, a non-profit art space on the Lower East Side. Melinda is also Founder and Principal of MW Projects, a cultural production and art advisory firm, and Executive Director of Collective Show, a contemporary art non-profit organization focused on artist collectives worldwide. Melinda serves on the Board of Governors of the Princeton Association of New York City and is Chair of the Association’s Arts & Culture Committee.  In addition, she is an advisory board member of Silvershed, an artist-run space, and is active in the Junior Associates of the Museum of Modern Art.

Ed Woodham is a multi-disciplinary artist, teacher and the founder/director of Art in Odd Places (AiOP). AiOP was founded in Atlanta in 1996 as a part of the Cultural Olympics Public Art campaign. The group was on hiatus from 1998- 2005, and re established in New York City. AiOP currently presents an annual NYC public visual and performance art event specializing in presenting art in unexpected public spaces.  Mr. Woodham created and co-produced the Bravo documentary series, The It Factor, about actors trying to 'make it' in New York and LA. He has appeared as a puppeteer in numerous productions and created two works for Arts at St Ann’s Puppet Lab. Mr. Woodham has been a teaching artist for over twenty-five years, and currently teaches with City as Site: Art as Social Intervention, as well as workshops in politically base performance through EMERGENYC.

Hello, my name is Caroline Woolard [she/her/hers]. I make sculptures, websites, and events to imagine and enact relationships of cooperation and mutual aid. I am a founding core organizer at Art.coop and the 2023-2024 W.W. Corcoran Visiting Professor in Community Engagement.

Justin Zaremby is an Associate in the Firm's Tax-Exempt Organizations department where he represents a range of public charities and private foundations, including universities, cultural institutions, and other tax-exempt entities on a variety of matters including corporate governance and restructuring, charitable giving, program-related investing, international grantmaking, commercially driven mission activities, and other state and federal regulatory matters. From 2010 to 2011, Mr. Zaremby served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. José A. Cabranes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Prior to joining Patterson Belknap, Mr. Zaremby advised for-profit companies on complex commercial transactions and corporate governance matters at a New York-based law firm.