💥 BREAKING NEWS: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani just unveiled his Arts and Culture Committee, signaling that NYC’s creative future is about to get a major City Hall rewrite ⚡NN

New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani Names Arts and Culture Transition Committee

A man at a podium holding one hand to his chest and smiling. — Zohran Mamdani. Photo Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who decisively beat back independent candidate Andrew Cuomo in the election to lead the city earlier this month, has named an arts and culture transition committee. The 28-member group includes curators, art dealers, journalists, and arts and nonprofit administrators. It ranges from Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the Mellon Foundation, which sits on an endowment of $7.7 billion, to Hannah Traore, who launched a 3,000-square-foot gallery on the Lower East Side not four years ago.

Familiar names on the committee include Kimberly Drew, curatorial director at global megagallery Pace; Ruba Katrib, chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1; Legacy Russell, executive director and chief curator at the Kitchen; and Gonzalo Casals, a former commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City.

Mamdani gained support from some in the arts community during his campaign. As Artnet News reported, Mamdani was popular among the downtown crowd, with dealer Elyse Derosia cohosting a fundraising event for him ahead of the primary. Artists and creators like Martine Syms, Ser Serpas, and Michael Stipe showed up, per Artnet, which quoted Dean as saying, “I think his platform resonates because most people ‘downtown’ are feeling the squeeze of a New York City unconcerned with its working class.”

Many in the art world rejoiced when Mamdani trounced Cuomo. New York Times contributor Siddhartha Mitter, artist Laurie Simmons, critic Jerry Saltz, and even El Museo del Barrio raised their voices in celebration on social media.

The full transition committee follows below.

Hiba Abid, New York Public Library

Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation

Suroosh Alvi, Vice

Jessica Baker, Vodoor Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden

Alexis Bittar, Jewelry Designer

Rocky Bucano, Hip Hop Museum

Gonzalo Casals, Culture & Arts Policy Institute

Carolyn Concepcion, ARTNOIR

Colm Dillane, KidSuper

Kimberly Drew, Pace Gallery

Atiba Edwards, Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Kamilah Forbes, Apollo Theatre

Lisa Gold, Asian American Arts Alliance

Jenna Hamed, curator and book maker

Kemi Ilesanmi, KG1

Wes Jackson, BRIC

Ruba Katrib, MoMA PS1

Coco Killingsworth, Cultural Institutions Group

Mino Lora, The Peoples Theatre

Patricia McGregor, NY Theatre Workshop

Lydia Pilcher, Cine Mosaic

Victoria Rogers, Leadership Strategist

Hal Rosenbluth, Kaufman Astoria Studios

Legacy Russell, the Kitchen

Kenny Savoca, IATSE 161

Hannah Traore, Hannah Traore Gallery

Diya Vij, Powerhouse Arts

Dennis Walcott, Queens Library

Art in America

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