THE WASSAIC PROJECT WELCOMES
FOUR NEW LOCAL BOARD MEMBERS
WASSAIC, NY— The Wassaic Project (TWP) has recently appointed four local residents to serve on its board of directors. Jennifer Dowley of Millerton, David Rosenberg of Wassaic, Dan Sternberg of Millerton, and Karen Zukowski of Pawling, have volunteered to guide and support the Wassaic Project. Janet Offensend, Chair of the Board of Directors and resident of Wassaic and Boston, stated: “We are delighted to have such diverse and talented people join our hard working board. They will help extend our reach into the communities we serve and bring great value to our work.”
Jennifer Dowley was the President of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation for over 16 years and oversaw its growth from a nonprofit with $10 million in assets to $120 million by December 2015. Prior to that she was the Director of Museums and Visual Arts at the National Endowment for the arts in Washington, D.C. and served in leadership roles in nonprofit and public sector arts organizations around the country. Ms. Dowley stated: “I am honored to be able to work on behalf of such an innovative community based organization that is making such a positive difference in Amenia and Millerton and beyond.”
David Rosenberg is the former owner of iWeiss, Inc specializing in the manufacturing and installation of manual, motorized and computer controlled stage rigging equipment and large scale auditorium and stage drapery. The company also became a leader in theatre restoration recently completing a $2 million contract for the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, the 1928 crown jewel of the Loew’s chain. This past June he retired and made Wassaic his full time residence. Mr. Rosenberg also serves on the Board of Friends of Karen, The Sharon Playhouse, the Marvelwood School Arts Advisory Board and the Amenia Town Planning Board.
Dan Sternberg is a Senior Counsel at the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where he was a partner from 1988 through 2011. Over his 30-year career as a corporate lawyer, he counseled a broad range of U.S. and international clients across the spectrum of corporate issues and transactions. Mr. Sternberg is also a director of the Ali Forney Center, a trustee of The Storefront Academy South Bronx and a member of the Advisory Board of the North East Community Center.
Karen Zukowski is an independent historian of late 19th century American visual culture. She has been particularly involved with artists’ houses, an outgrowth of her PhD dissertation on late 19th-century American artists’ studios. Her publications include a website for the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and documents for historic houses, including one for the Donald Judd house in New York City. For ten years Ms. Zukowski was the Curator of Olana State Historic Site, the home and studio of Frederic Edwin Church, a Hudson River School painter. She is currently on the boards of The Olana Partnership and the Victorian Society in America.
The Wassaic Project is deepening its commitment to serve the community around the Hamlet of Wassaic with programs that are active in Webutuck and Dover Schools, as well as with the North East Community Center in Millerton. The new board members will be particularly helpful in expanding on these connections and making the Wassaic Project’s programming more robust year-round. These newly elected board members join seven other board members from the greater region who are working to advance the mission of the Wassaic Project.
THE WASSAIC PROJECT is a non profit organization founded in 2008 in the heart of the historic hamlet of Wassaic, NY. The Project is an incubator for artists, community, kids and their connections providing an intimate context for art-making and strengthening local community through the creation and promotion of contemporary visual and performing art. Programming is year round and features an annual Summer Exhibition in the Maxon Mills, a repurposed seven-story grain elevator; a year-round free drop-in arts space for kids, the Art Nest; an artist-in-residence program with monthly open studios open to the public; and ongoing community and education programs. In addition, the Wassaic Project partners with local public schools and community organizations to further engage with its communities.
