NEW YORK, NY.- The Bronx Museum announced the appointment of new interim board leadership, naming Joseph Mizzi as Chair and Joan Krevlin as Co-Vice Chair of the museum. Marilyn Greene continues to serve as Co-Vice Chair and Elliot Brownstein as Treasurer. The appointments have been made due to the sudden resignation last week of the Museum’s Chair and Co-Vice Chair.
Mr. Mizzi is the President and Chief Operating Officer of NYC-based Sciame Construction Co. He also currently serves as Vice Chair (and former board Treasurer) of the New York Building Congress; board Treasurer of the Architectural League of New York; board Treasurer and Vice Chair of the Salvadori Center; and board member of the Boy Scouts of America, Greater New York Councils. He has served on the Bronx Museum of the Arts’ board since 2012 and as board Secretary this past year.
Ms. Krevlin is a founding partner of BKSK Architects with an expertise in the design of cultural and civic environments. She has served as partner-in-charge of a number of major projects for the New York City Department of Design and Construction, including the Queens Botanical Garden and the New York Hall of Science. She has been a member of the board of the Bronx Museum since 2007.
“The board of trustees fully supports the vision and programs that our Executive Director, Holly Block, has set in place and we are dedicated to pursuing them,” stated Mr. Mizzi. “The Museum has had incredible success at all levels; from our extensive, ongoing community engagement programs, to our critically acclaimed exhibitions, to our projects of international stature and impact, Holly has built an institution of national significance that celebrates and serves our local community.”
“Our board continues to endorse the museum’s groundbreaking, thought-provoking programming as a resource to the Bronx community,” stated Ms. Krevlin. “We also remain dedicated to pursuing those special projects, including international projects, that explore important contemporary issues and strengthen our position within the greater art world. The heightened visibility and stature that these ambitious international projects bring to the museum are a great benefit to the local community and help us to better fulfill our mission of presenting new ideas and voices in a global context and making contemporary art a vital, relevant experience for visitors.”
“The Museum has achieved a balanced budget for the past seven years while also funding such incredible programs as the presentation of Sara Sze for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale and the unprecedented exhibition of works from the Bronx Museum collection in Havana last year, as the first part of Wild Noise, which is the most significant visual arts exchange between the two countries in more than 50 years,” added Mr. Mizzi. “These achievements—together with all of our other programming—by an institution of our size is an affirmation of the strength of the board’s commitment to Holly and her leadership.”
Major exhibitions in the past year include Art AIDS America and a retrospective of the work of Martin Wong, along with a myriad of exhibitions and events featuring the work and voices of local artists. In 2011, the Museum implemented a free admissions policy as a way to make art and its programs readily accessible to all of the constituencies it serves.
Among the Museum’s ongoing community engagement programs are the Museum Community Advisory Council, a volunteer group of local residents working collaboratively with the Museum on programming and acting as Cultural Ambassadors to the community. This is complemented by the Art's Teen Council, a year-long paid internship that provides teens with an open forum for the expression of ideas and dialogue on issues affecting young people today, providing dynamic experiences with contemporary art and culture to urban youth through an intensive after-school program.
In addition to serving as Commissioner for the U.S. Pavilion for the 2013 Venice Biennale and the landmark exhibition of their collection in Havana last year, the Museum also organized smARTpower, an initiative of the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which sent 15 U.S. artists abroad to work with local artists and young people around the world, and the ongoing Artist in the Marketplace program, which supports emerging artists by providing professional development resources and introducing their work to the public. The Museum’s collection comprises over 1,000 modern and contemporary works of art in all media with a focus on works by artists of African, Asian, and Latin-American ancestry, as well as artists for whom the Bronx has been critical to their development.
In May of this year, the Museum announced plans for a major architectural enhancement and upgrade of its facility to better serve its community and visitors, add new spaces for public programs and exhibitions, and strengthen its crucial contribution to the civic fabric of the Bronx.
