Cora Cahan To Step Down As President And CEO Of Baryshnikov Arts Center

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announces that Cora Cahan will step down as President and CEO of BAC. Ms. Cahan will remain in her position until October 15, 2022.

As BAC's administrative head, a position she has held since October 2019, Ms. Cahan, alongside Founder and Artistic Director Mikhail Baryshnikov, oversaw all facets of the organization, including strategic planning, fundraising, budget oversight, programming, and general management of staff and facilities.

Mr. Baryshnikov said: "Cora Cahan's appointment to the lead executive role at BAC marked an important turning point for the organization - she led us through the tumultuous period of the early pandemic with wisdom and grace. It has been a privilege to work with someone with such deep dedication to the arts community. BAC's staff and board are grateful for Cora's three years of service to BAC's mission, and I wish her all the best."

During her tenure, Ms. Cahan, working in tandem with Mr. Baryshnikov, ushered BAC through the organization's 2020 pivot to exclusively online programming, the advent of the Virtual Artist Commissions initiative (providing space and resources to artists to create new works in the medium of film to be presented on BAC Digital, BAC's streaming platform), and the organization's first hybrid season in Spring 2022, including the successful reinstatement of in-person public programming.

Says Ms. Cahan: "It is high time for me to attend to personal matters that I have put off for far too long. It has been a privilege working with Misha and the BAC board and staff at the iconic institution he dreamt up and fully realized. This has been especially true through the "thick and thin" of the unprecedented challenges we and all our performing arts colleagues faced and have engaged in since early 2020."

Prior to her appointment at BAC, Ms. Cahan had a distinguished career as a dancer, transitioning into a role as co-founder and Executive Director of the Feld Ballet, developing the Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance at 890 Broadway, and transforming the Elgin Cinema into the award-winning Joyce Theater. Ms. Cahan served as the founding president of the New 42nd Street for 29 years, charged with restoring and finding uses for seven of the street's historic theaters. Ms. Cahan serves on the Boards of The Park Avenue Armory, The Center for Architecture Foundation, and the Advisory Board of Hunter College Dance.

BAC will conduct an executive search immediately.

BAC is the realization of a long-held vision by artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov to build an arts center in Manhattan that would serve as a gathering place for artists from all disciplines. BAC's opening in 2005 heralded the launch of this mission, establishing a thriving creative laboratory and performance space for artists from around the world. BAC's activities encompass a robust residency program augmented by a range of professional services, including commissions of new work, as well as the presentation of performances by artists at varying stages of their careers. In tandem with its commitment to supporting artists, BAC is dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at affordable ticket prices. For more information, please visit bacnyc.org.