A Message from the Bronx River Art Center
Board Chair Liliana Candelario Thanks
Gail Nathan for 25+ Years of Service
The Bronx River Art Center’s (BRAC) Board is extremely grateful to Gail Nathan for her unwavering commitment to BRAC for over 25 remarkable years. She has made a profound impact on our organization and the Bronx community.
Gail will retire this summer after managing the Bronx River Art Center through multiple trials as well as successful undertakings. Under her leadership she oversaw a $15M capital renovation of our City-owned building, creating a unique artistic gem in the heart of the Bronx. During her tenure Gail launched several new programs, such as Teen Project Studio (TPS), now including young adults to age 25 (TPS+2.0), an annual June Bronx River Sounds Performing Arts Festival, an Artist Studios program for professional artists, multiple Public Art projects in and around our West Farms neighborhood, and oversaw a robust program of local, national and international exhibitions, curating several of the shows herself. From the start Gail was an outgoing ambassador for BRAC establishing many community partnerships with arts organizations, local politicians and other non-profit organizations serving the Bronx.
Gail has always set a high bar for professionalism and has brought her passion and continuous dedication to our artists and youth and the value of the arts to community development.
Through Gail’s extensive experience as a practicing artist, educator and arts administrator, she has shouldered the high demands made by our organization with perseverance and true grit. For Gail, leading BRAC has been a calling to serve the Bronx community, giving individual attention to each youth and adult who attend our programs. While respecting the core traditions of the organization, she has been courageous to try new approaches and to propel us into innovative new directions to engage community with art and environmental experiences.
During the eight long years that our building was under construction, instead of shutting down, Gail found creative ways for BRAC to continue to serve our community, partnering with other organizations to offer our education and presenting programs in housing community rooms, parks, performing arts spaces, political offices, and even an old Italian banquet hall on Arthur Avenue. And when Covid hit she employed the same determined perseverance to develop all-virtual programs as well as an array of hybrid curricula.
Gail has brought an extraordinary range of leadership skills to our non-profit art center, including fund-raising, financial management, risk management, programs development and oversight of our operational structure. Most important, she demonstrated tireless dedication by example to our staff and board.
Gail’s drive to fulfill our mission and enrich our community stands apart. She has moved our organization forward and positioned BRAC for its future success. There is no doubt that she will remain an integral member of the BRAC family, a family she has nurtured with profound joy.
Our Board has chosen Maggie Greenfield as the Interim Executive Director who, during her tenure, will ably manage BRAC while supporting our Board in hiring a new ED. Maggie comes to us via her roles at the Bronx River Alliance, where over 18 years she rose from Greenway Coordinator to six years as its Executive Director. After leaving the Alliance last year she has consulted with several NYC organizations in organizational management, grant writing, and capacity building. As we begin our search process for a new Executive leader for BRAC, we welcome any suggestions that you may have that would influence and support finding the right match for BRAC. Please be in touch with me at chair@bronxriverart.org, or with Maggie, Interim Executive Director, at mgreenfield@bronxriverart.org.
The board thanks all of you for your partnership with BRAC. Please plan to join us at our Gala this fall to send Gail off with our warmest wishes for a productive next phase in her career.
All very best,
Liliana Candelario,
Board Chair, Bronx River Art Center
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