NYFA, BP Adams honor three new women leaders of Brooklyn cultural organizations
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams hosted a reception last Thursday at NYFA’s space in DUMBO to honor three recently appointed women leaders of prominent Brooklyn cultural organizations: Katy Clark, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); Charlotte Cohen, executive director of the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC); and Anne Pasternak, director of the Brooklyn Museum.
The tone of the evening was celebratory with a clear call to action for Brooklyn institutions to collaborate, be more inclusive and support artists as a means for driving social change.
Around 175 arts leaders, elected officials and artists attended, including Alan Maisel, councilmember for 46th District; Edwin Torres, deputy commissioner of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA); Alan Fishman, BAM board chair; Katie Hollander, executive director of Creative Time; Kathleen Hughes, assistant commissioner of the DCLA; Robbie Welch, community liaison for Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito; Robert Baron, folk arts/music program director for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA); Leanne Tintori Wells, dance/state and local partnerships/decentralization director at NYSCA; Lisa Kim, cultural affairs director for Two Trees Management; and artists Elia Alba, Deborah Kass, Ken Schles, Dread Scott and Elizabeth Streb, among others.