LMCC Names Andrew D. Hamingson President; Plans Governors Island Arts Center Expansion

Today Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) names Andrew D. Hamingson its next president, succeeding outgoing president Sam Miller. Hamingson will assume the presidency on February 1, consulting with Miller and LMCC's Board of Directors in the meantime to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Hamingson comes to LMCC from St. Ann's Warehouse where he has served as Executive Director since 2012, ushering the organization through a major capital campaign and subsequent move to its newly renovated home at 45 Water Street on the Brooklyn Waterfront in DUMBO. Prior to St. Ann's he served as Executive Director of The Public Theater and has also held posts at Atlantic Theater Company and Manhattan Theatre Club.

"LMCC is very fortunate to have Andy as our incoming President," says Timur Galen, LMCC's Board Chair. "He has an extraordinary record of accomplishment in the management of arts organizations, the ability to inspire our public, private and not-for-profit partners, and a passion to lead at the intersection of cultural, economic and community development.

"Moreover, Andy arrives at a fortuitous moment in time for LMCC. Under Sam's exemplary leadership we have reinvigorated our flagship artist residency, professional development and grant programs, reinvented River To River, Downtown's premier arts festival, led the building of resilience and sustainability across the communities in which our artists live and work, and entered into a landmark agreement to develop a 40,000 square-foot Arts Center on Governors Island. Thanks to Sam's brilliant five-year tenure, LMCC is programmatically stronger and more financially secure than it has ever been before and, with Andy at the helm, we are poised to move boldly forward."

One of Hamingson's most immediate priorities will be the expansion of LMCC's Arts Center at Governors Island, on which construction is set to begin in late 2016 and for which 60% of a $3 million capital campaign has been raised with lead support from the Booth Ferris Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, Ford Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

The expanded Center will open to the public in May 2017 and house a publicly accessible incubator for large-scale performance, design, new media and community development projects. Its centerpiece will be a state-of-the-art, flexible use, open-plan environment dedicated to supporting artistic process and professional development and fostering inter-generational and inter-disciplinary collaboration. Public programs will invite audiences to experience the roles that artists can play in catalyzing vibrant, sustainable communities.

"It is a great honor to lead LMCC into this new and exciting time. I feel my 25 years in the arts has been preparing me to lead an organization that is committed to serving artists and providing conditions for the development and presentation of their work," Hamingson says. "New York City is our home, and is a global example for how urban, waterfront cities can invest in artists for the benefit of all. I look forward to working with all of LMCC's artists like Laurie Anderson, Ralph Lemon, Paola Prestini, Jennifer Monson, Jacolby Satterwhite and John Kelly, to name just a few, to help keep New York City at the center of the cultural map."

Some highlights from Miller's five years with LMCC include the expansion of programming in the Arts Center at Governors Island; LMCC becoming the lead presenter of the acclaimed River To River Festival (2011) and reinventing it as a contemporary arts festival that showcases NYC's new talent in unexpected sites around the neighborhood; LMCC joining a diverse network of community and cultural partners invested in waterfront resilience and the creative activation of and access to public space in the Two Bridges and Chinatown neighborhoods; the expansion of the organization's existing Professional Development, Grant and Residency Programs; and the creation of the Extended Life Dance Development program to support choreographers and their projects over the course of several years.

LMCC empowers artists by providing them with networks, resources and support, in order to create vibrant, sustainable communities in Lower Manhattan and beyond. In 2015, LMCC will have awarded over $500,000 in grants; provided 500 individuals with professional development skills and access to business leaders and arts professionals; placed 100 individuals and arts groups in studio residency programs; and presented over 60 days of free cultural experiences for the public to enjoy. Through its investment in individual artists and small arts groups, its robust network of partners in the public and private sectors, and its integrated approach to fostering local neighborhood efforts, LMCC aims to spark public imagination as well as inspire personal connection and investment in NYC's communities.

LMCC's public engagement initiatives demonstrate the role artists play in communities by connecting the public to creative practices, ideas, art forms and other audience members seeking similar experiences. Through the presentation and commissioning of performances, talks, exhibitions, studio visits, open rehearsals, readings and participatory events across Lower Manhattan, LMCC aims to inspire the public to think critically about the world around them and increase the attachment that participants feel toward the place where the activity is taking place as well as to their fellow attendees. For audiences of one to 1,000 made up of individuals with a wide-range of interests and experience with the arts, Open Studios, River To River, Arts East River Waterfront and Exhibitions/Installations in the Arts Center at Governors Island and other locations all shine a light on neighborhoods where artists are at work. lmcc.net