PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Director & Senior Curator, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, 01/2017–Present
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Staten Island, NY
Lead the strategic vision, operations, and institutional identity of Staten Island’s flagship contemporary art space—recognized for innovative programming, artist support, and community engagement. Oversee a robust portfolio of exhibitions, residencies, and public initiatives that serve artists at all career stages while amplifying cultural participation across NYC’s diverse communities:

Leadership & Strategic Planning

• Drive all aspects of artistic planning, personnel management, facilities oversight, and institutional positioning to grow the Newhouse Center’s role as a vital cultural incubator

• Partner with executive leadership on major fundraising initiatives, grant proposals, and strategic campaigns to ensure financial sustainability and expand programmatic reach

• Collaborate with development team to raise, manage, and report on contributed and earned income through a combination of individual donors, government grants, and foundation support

• Supervise a multidisciplinary team including curatorial staff, marketing personnel, production crew, and seasonal interns/volunteers, fostering a collaborative and mission-aligned culture

• Present quarterly reports to the Board of Directors with detailed updates on impact metrics, program milestones, and long-term goals

Curatorial & Program Management

• Lead the development and execution of seasonal programming, including exhibitions, residencies, artist commissions, and interdisciplinary events such as screenings, performances, and workshops

• Design and implement all residency program components—from outreach and selection panels to artist support and final presentations—providing financial, professional, and creative resources

• Manage high-profile open calls and juried exhibitions that spotlight emerging and underrepresented voices while maintaining curatorial excellence

• Develop tools for program evaluation and feedback to measure impact and inform strategic planning

Marketing, Communications, Audience Engagement & Brand Growth

• Catalyze bold and fresh branding and messaging for Newhouse Center’s institutional identity

• Spearhead integrated communications across platforms, including social media, press outreach, and e-newsletters, to grow public visibility and strengthen institutional storytelling

• During tenure, have increased annual gallery attendance by over 40% through expanded programming, targeted outreach, and enhanced digital marketing strategies

• Serve as the public face of the Newhouse Center, regularly representing the institution in media interviews, conferences, and artist talks

• Write and edit press releases, pitches, briefings, and kits for institutional and programmatic initiatives

• Build and maintain relationships with press, reporters, and PR firms to successfully secure coverage in local, regional, national and international media outlets

• Track and analyze metrics and data to measure success and reach of digital campaigns, press coverage, and traditional promotional methods

• Oversee graphic design and photographic documentation, including hiring and managing graphic designers, photographers, and videographers, for institutional record-keeping, producing programmatic materials such as publications, and for archival purposes

Partnerships

• Cultivate and sustain strategic partnerships with national and regional organizations including the Smithsonian Institution, New York Foundation for the Arts, and DanceNYC

• Led a major collaborative programming initiative with local cultural institutions, resulting in cross-institutional events that expanded audiences and amplified public engagement

• Create inclusive spaces for dialogue and co-creation by organizing artist focus groups, public conversations, and community-centered programs that reflect the voices of Staten Island and beyond

Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Staten Island, NY, 03/2015–12/2016
Strategized and facilitated institutional and programmatic marketing for Snug Harbor's 83-acre campus with emphasis on interdepartmental, cross-organizational collaboration alongside a strong visual brand identity:

• Developed and executed integrated marketing campaigns in collaboration with development and programming teams, boosting event attendance and public visibility

• Led strategic communications for fundraising initiatives, including the annual Neptune Ball gala and year-end appeals, producing donor-focused collateral and campaign messaging

• Managed and grew the organization’s social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—significantly increasing engagement and audience reach through platform-specific strategies and original content

• Oversaw website updates and digital UX enhancements, including a dynamic events calendar, homepage features, and improved mobile functionality to better serve diverse users

• Refined brand identity across digital and print materials, designing visually consistent promotional assets and collaborating with graphic designers, photographers, and videographers to uphold quality and cohesion
  

Organizing Director & Curator
Second Saturday Staten Island Art Walk, Staten Island, NY, 01/2013–07/2015
Led the revitalization and strategic growth of a monthly community art walk designed to activate cultural spaces, support local artists, and foster partnerships between galleries, small businesses, and the public:

• Reimagined program structure and rebuilt organizational capacity following Hurricane Sandy, positioning the initiative as a key driver of cultural recovery and community engagement

• Directed all communications, including social media, press outreach, and promotional campaigns, significantly expanding the event’s visibility and reach

• Developed and executed fundraising strategies through crowdfunding, events, membership drives, and grant writing, ensuring program sustainability

• Curated monthly public programming to showcase the cultural vibrancy of Staten Island’s North Shore, strengthening relationships across the arts, nonprofit, and business sectors

• Created succession plan to transition the project to new leadership at Hub 17 in 2015

Quality Assurance Technician, 11/2014–03/2015
Affiliate Training Coordinator, 06/2013–11/2014
Customer Service Manager, 04/2012–05/2013
Customer Service Representative, 12/2011–03/2012
Press+/Journalism Online (a subsidiary of RR Donnelley and Piano Media), New York, NY, 12/2011–03/2015
Progressive responsibilities at innovative tech start-up included:

• Tracked and update bugs and product changes in JIRA. Performed regression testing and product change verification for regular release cycles; performed exploratory testing and usability assessment of products through various stages of their life-cycle

• Developed and administered CRM software training webinars to clients representing over 200 news and media publications worldwide

• Created new materials including manuals, guides and presentations. Streamlined communications between departments to support and optimize client relations

• Managed a department of 8 full-time employees and 2 freelancers while serving as customer service manager

House Manager and Administrative Assistant
Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, 08/2009–11/2011
Managed front of house operations for student and rental events within the college’s proscenium and black-box theater spaces, trained incoming house managers, and performed administrative work

ADDITIONAL ARTS ADMINISTRATION AND
PRODUCTION CREDITS

• Shaolin Art Party, website and radio show, 2024–Present

• Snug Harbor Dance Festival, Founder & Curator, 2022–Present

• Newhouse After Dark, live music and sound series, 2018–2025

• Sounds of Snug Harbor, MakerPark Radio, Staten Island, NY, 2019–2020

• Transmissions: A Decade of Dance Making, self-produced concert, 2019

• St. George Day, Staten Island, NY, 2013–2017

• Second Saturdays Staten Island, Staten Island, NY, 2013–2015

• Curiosity Project: MOVEMENT, curator, Staten Island Arts, Staten Island, NY, 2013

• Grant writer, Greenbelt Conservancy, 2012

• Movement Research Intern, 2010–2011

• The Yard, summer season intern, Chilmark, MA, 2010

• Bridge the Gap, SiCoLab, Staten Island, NY, 2009 & 2010

• River To River Festival, Premiere of ACE One, GOH Productions, New York, NY, 2010

• Hunter College Dance Company, Alumni Concert, 2010

• Grants & Services Intern, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 2009–2010

• Public Acts of Decency, curator and co-producer, New York, NY, 2008–2010

• mwestdances, Staten Island and New York, NY, 2009–Present

• Martha Graham II, Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY, 2008

• LaMama Moves! Dances Festival, Assistant Stage Manager, The Club, New York, NY, 2008

• Hunter College Dance Company, Co-company Manager and President of the Modern Dance Club, 2008–2009

TEACHING

Adjunct Faculty, Dance Department
Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, 08/2022–10/2024

Developed syllabus for a new course, Dance History 2: A Cultural, Historical, and Social Approach, designed to introduce students to key frameworks in the study and analysis of dance cultures from across the world:

• Create dynamic lessons that build on core concepts from the fields of anthropology, dance studies, art history, and the social sciences

• Structure the classroom to be a collaborative space for exploration through experiential writing, breakout assignments, and discussions

• Guide students toward final projects comprised of oral presentations and accompanying research papers

• Choreographed a new dance for the Dance Company between 01/2024–10/2024 for their annual main stage concert

PUBLICATIONS

• Shaolin Art Party, co-founder, digital publication and art blog, est. 2024

• DADA IN THE HOUSE: 20 Years of Performance Art on Staten Island, producer, copy editor and contributor, 2023

• Staten Island Mode: Identity, Memory, Fashion, producer, copy editor, and contributor, 2023

• Kathy Westwater: PARK Ephemera, designer, editor and contributor, exhibition publication, 2022

• Queer Van Kult: Revelation, editor and contributor, exhibition publication, 2022

• Roots/Anchors, editor/design advisor and contributor, exhibition publication with introduction by Lucy Lippard, 2021

• The Hyphen, chief editor of Newhouse Center’s art blog, 2020–2023

• “Between Worlds: Melding Past and Present in Reda Abdelrahman’s I Am Everybody,” I Am Everybody, editor and contributor, exhibition publication, 2020

• “Your Participation is Needed,” Heal the Man, exhibition catalog, 2019

• Transmissions: writing on dance, writer and designer, collection of essays, self-published, 2019

• “Columns & Caryatids: Immortal Shape-Shifters,” Columns & Caryatids, exhibition catalog, 2018

• “Counterpoint,” Native Soil: Staten Island Homescapes, Sarah Yuster Retrospective, contributor, exhibition publication, edited by Marguerite Rivas, 2018

GRANTS, AWARDS, & FELLOWSHIPS

• SIEDC’s 20 Under 40 Leadership Award, 2025

• Performing Arts Residency Cohort, Staten Island Arts, 2024–25

• Mertz Gilmore Dance Research Grant, Staten Island Arts, 2023 & 2024

• Fellowship for Utopian Practice, Culture Push, Shaolin Art Party with Jahtiek Long, 2023

• Emerging Leaders Program, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2019–20

• Art Fund Grantee, Staten Island Arts (DCLA regrant), Transmissions, 2019

• Community Art Partner Grant, Staten Island Arts (NYSCA regrant), Staten Island Dance Project, 2017

• New York Community Trust Leadership Fellows Program, 2016–17

• Performance Studies Award, NYU, 2014

RESIDENCIES

• CUNY Dance Initiative Artist Residency at the College of Staten Island, 2016

• Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, 2014

• The Greenbelt Conservancy, 2014

• The Curiosity Project at Staten Island Arts, 2013

SPEAKING AND SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS

• NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, Partner Presentation, 2025

• Choreographer, Wagner College Dance Department, 2024

• Advisory Committee, CITY OF WOM_N, Catherine Galasso Dance Projects, 2023

• Guest instructor, class session for Choreography I, Wagner College Dance Department, 2023

• Guest instructor, class session for Contemporary Dance Workshop, Wagner College Dance Department, 2023

• Guest instructor, class session for Pedagogy II, Wagner College Dance Department, 2023

• Guest lecture, wanderingaffect: connecting dance, place, and community, class session for Dance Appreciation, Wagner College Dance Department, 2023

• Civic Engagement Commission of New York City, The People’s Money Participatory Budgeting Committee for Staten Island, 2023

• Guest speaker, Arts & Entertainment Virtual Career Panel, Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) at United Activities Unlimited, Inc., 2022

• Guest speaker, Curtis High School Dance Department, Career Week, 2021

• Guest speaker, Hunter College Dance Department Alumni Event, 2020

• Panel moderator and organizer, Art & Action Chat: Embodying Shaolin—a conversation on resistance and resilience, Human Impacts Institute/Creative Climate Awards, 2020

• Guest co-curator, Human Impacts Institute/Creative Climate Awards, 2020

• Panelist, Career Paths in the Arts, St. George Theatre, 2019 and 2020

• Presenter, Wagner College's Port Richmond Partnership Summit, 2016

• Panelist, Geographic Equity panel, Dance/NYC Symposium, 2015

RECENT PRESS

• Wagner College Theatre Dance presents WCT DANCE, a celebration of movement and meaning, Gracelyn Santos, Staten Island Advance, 2024

• Hyperallergic Fall Guide, If walls could talk, the might look something like Abuela’s Kitchen, Hyperallergic, 2024

• Snug Harbor Dance Festival, Hallie Chametzky, Brooklyn Rail, 2023

• IMPRESSIONS: Kinesis Project dance theatre in “Capacity, or: The Work of Crackling” (Excerpt) at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Deirdre Towers, Dance Enthusiast, 2023

• Catherine Galasso centers Staten Island, women from the borough in Snug Harbor dance work, Trina Mannino, ALL Arts, 2023

• ArtSeen: Roots/Anchors, Lily Wei, Brooklyn Rail, 2021

• Love, Art, and Politics Intertwined, Charlotte Kent, Hyperallergic, 2021

• Staten Island artists recognized for work in diversity, justice as part of 2020 Creative Climate Awards, Victoria Priola, Staten Island Advance, 2020

• Spiritual Praxis: Tattfoo Tan Interviewed by Louis Bury, BOMB Magazine, 2019

EXHIBITION CREDITS

• LUMEN8, ArtSpace, Staten Island Arts, group exhibition, Staten Island, NY, 2017

• Melissa West & Erik Danielsen: My Body is a Landscape/The Landscape is a Body, Lenape Gallery, Conference House, Staten Island, NY, 2016

• Native Ensemble: Artists Chronicle Staten Island's Natural Spaces, Lenape Gallery, Conference House, group exhibition, Staten Island, NY, 2016

• #wanderingaffect: my body is a landscape, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, SHARP artist residency and solo exhibition, Staten Island, NY, 2014

CURATORIAL/PRODUCER HIGHLIGHTS

EXHIBITIONS

• Tatiana Arocha: Entre la Coca y El Oro, curator/producer, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2025 (forthcoming)

• Abuela’s Kitchen, producer (guest curated by Kelly Vilar), Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2024

• Staten Island Mode: Memory, Identity, Fashion, producer (guest curated by Jenna Rossi-Camus and Alexis Romano), Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2023

• Kathy Westwater: PARK Ephemera, curator/producer (in collaboration with the artist), Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2022

• Queer Van Kult: Revelation, producer, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2022

• Roots/Anchors, co-curated with William Corwin, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2021

• DB Lampman: In Visible, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2020

• Reda Abdelrahman: I Am Everybody, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2020

• Breaking Ground: Twenty Years of the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, lead curator, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2019

• Tattfoo Tan: Heal the Man in Order to Heal the Land, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2019

• SHAOLIN: Into the 36 Chambers, producer (guest curated by Jahtiek Long), Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2018

• Kristi Pfister: Columns and Caryatids, curator and producer, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2018

• Native Soil: Incidence & Homescapes, curator and producer, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, 2018

DANCE AND PERFORMANCE

• Grace Li-Yi Tong, 2025

• Orlando Hernández, 2025

• Kyle Marshall Company, Snug Harbor, 2024

• Snug Harbor Dance Festival, founder, 2022–Present

• Catherine Galasso, CITY OF WOM_N, 2021–2023

• Stephen Petronio Company, Snug Harbor, 2022

• J. Bouey, Snug Harbor, 2022

• Kath Westwater, Snug Harbor, 2021-2022

• Ivy Baldwin, Snug Harbor, 2021

• rebeca medina, Snug Harbor, 2021

• Kiera Bono, Snug Harbor, 2021

• devynn emory, Snug Harbor, 2020-21

• Lily Gold, Snug Harbor, 2019

• Julie Mayo, Snug Harbor, 2019

• Kinesis Project dance theatre, Snug Harbor, 2019

• Adrienne Westwood, Snug Harbor, 2019

• Anjoli Chadha, Snug Harbor, 2019

• Jerron Herman, Snug Harbor, 2018

• Tess Dworman, Snug Harbor, 2018

• Simone Johnson, Snug Harbor, 2018

• Anabella Lenzu, Snug Harbor, 2018

• Tatyana Tenenbaum, Snug Harbor, 2016

• Yoshiko Chuma, Snug Harbor, 2015

• Vicky Shick, Snug Harbor, 2015

MUSIC & SOUND

• Jazz Is Staten Island, producer and co-presenter, 2025-2026 (forthcoming)

• Orchestra of St. Luke’s, presenting partner and venue host, 2017-Present

• Into the Charmed Churned Circle, Indeterminacy Festival, co-commission, 2025

• Newhouse After Dark, live music and sound series, founder/curator and producer, 2018-2025

• Jazzmobile Summer Series, presenting partner and venue host, 2017-Present

• Five Borough Music Festival, partnership/co-presenter, 2019-2023

• ChamberQueer, presenting partner and venue host, 2023

EDUCATION

2014. M.A. Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Thesis: Reveries of the Girl Wanderer: Into the Embodied Landscapes of Staten Island

2009. B.A. Dance and English, Hunter College, The City University of New York