NEW YORK, NY.- Public Art Fund announced the expansion of its Curatorial, Executive, and Creative Partnerships Departments with one promotion and three new appointments. Gabriela López Dena has begun at Public Art Fund as Associate Curator of Public Practice and Jenée-Daria Strand joined the organization as Assistant Curator. Larry Giannechini was recently promoted to Deputy Director for Programs and Operations, while Dorothy Dávila joined as Director, Creative Partnerships. These staff members jointly further Public Art Fund's exhibitions, public programming, and consulting work, helping to increase public access to art and creative perspectives, and engage wide audiences in fresh and thoughtful ways.
“These new appointments reflect Public Art Fund’s commitment to creating dynamic and inspiring artistic encounters for audiences across New York City and beyond,” said Artistic & Executive Director Nicholas Baume. “Each of these skilled practitioners plays an essential role in delivering on our mission, strengthening collaboration, developing our exhibition program, expanding audiences and partnerships, and creating new pathways for communities to engage with life-changing public art.”
In the newly created Associate Curator of Public Practice position, López Dena extends Public Art Fund’s commitment to diverse publics and communities across New York’s five boroughs and beyond. She builds partnerships with local arts and community organizations, expands audiences through outreach and programming, and creates new opportunities for engagement with free and inclusive public programs, including artist’s talks, performances, and other community and education-oriented initiatives. Prior to Public Art Fund, López Dena served as Community Liaison at Cooper Hewitt's Smithsonian Design Museum and Guest Curator of Public Programs at the Museum of Arts & Design.
“Given her international perspective, engagement with civic space, and broad experience developing public programs, Gabriela brings a deep knowledge of current practice and a highly original imagination to this key new role. She is well-positioned to dynamically expand how Public Art Fund connects artists with communities in the public realm,” Baume said.
As Assistant Curator, Strand supports the research and development of exhibitions that further Public Art Fund’s goal to engage various communities with inspiring and challenging artistic perspectives. Bringing essential insights and research to multiple projects, Strand also supports and initiates exhibition development and liaises with artists and partners. Prior to Public Art Fund, Strand was the Curatorial Associate in the Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.
“With her background in performance and passion for public art, as well as her deep interest in Black feminist scholarship and artists from the Caribbean, Jenée brings an exciting fresh perspective to our curatorial program,” Baume said.
Giannechini, who joined Public Art Fund in 2019, has been promoted from Director of Project Management to Deputy Director for Programs and Operations. In this newly created role, Giannechini oversees the organization’s Project Management, Creative Partnerships, and Finance & HR Departments, strengthening cross-departmental collaboration and providing extensive operational and managerial expertise.
In her new role as Director, Creative Partnerships, Dávila oversees Public Art Fund’s growing consulting practice, which shares strategic planning, curatorial, project management, and communications expertise with leading cultural institutions, corporations, and civic organizations across the globe. Dávila brings ambitious public artwork commissions to fruition, while continuing to build strategy and support the capacity of the team. Dávila previously served as Deputy Director for Operations at Headlands Center for the Arts.
“It's an honor to work at an organization so deeply committed to presenting engaging art experiences to diverse audiences. My time at Public Art Fund has offered me many formative and foundational experiences with artists and public art exhibitions. I look forward to further expanding our ability to help artists realize ambitious projects and broadening my role to work even more closely with the entire staff,” said Larry Giannechini. “Furthermore, Dorothy Dávila’s wealth of experience managing programs and operations at various leading arts institutions positions her to oversee Creative Partnership projects that activate civic spaces and create engaged constituencies through the power of public art.”
