MoMA, MoMA PS1 and Volkswagen Group of America Announce 2016-17 VW Fellows

The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, and Volkswagen Group of America announce the appointment of the first round of six-month fellows at MoMA PS1. VW Fellows will assist in conducting fundamental research and writing, event and exhibition production, archival documentation, and executive task management.

Selected from a pool of more than one hundred applicants, the fellows will be fully integrated into the museum while devoting his or her time to training within a specific department. In selecting participants MoMA PS1 cast a wide net, seeking candidates with demonstrated work in museum studies and contemporary art. MoMA PS1 has appointed Kristina Mompoint as the VW Development Events Fellow; Nicholas Nazmi, the VW Digital Media Fellow; and Yih-chuen Liao, the VW Director's Office Fellow.

Klaus Biesenbach, Director of MoMA PS1 and Chief Curator at Large, MoMA, notes, "This vibrant group of young arts professionals will be provided with mentorship, career growth, and the opportunity to use the museum as a site of discovery and exchange. We thank VW for their generosity." On-site for major annual events such as seasonal exhibition openings, the Young Architects Program, the Spring Benefit Gala, Night at the Museum, and Warm Up (MoMA PS1's eclectic outdoor music series), fellows will be fully immersed in the life of the museum. In addition, the fellows will take on an integral role in the development of MoMA PS1's landmark 40th anniversary exhibition scheduled to open June 19th with the support of VW.

"Educational programs within the areas of art and culture deserve our special support because they further a deeper understanding of creative processes. Among our initiatives as MoMA's lead partner of education, the VW Fellows program enables young art talents to learn from one of the most experienced and well-regarded museum teams in the world," says Benita von Maltzahn, Head of Cultural Engagement within Volkswagen Group Communications.

MoMA PS1 VW Fellows:

Kristina Mompoint (VW Development Events Fellow) Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mompoint moved to New York in 2007 to study at St. Johns University, where she received her BA in English with a minor in Business Administration. Internships in Special Events at The Plaza Hotel, at the News Desk at WSDU in New Orleans, and at Women's Wear Daily prepared her for a managerial role at MoMA PS1. She began here as an intern in Visitor Services and was then promoted to Visitor Services Coordinator. Her professional experiences have included the management of the museum's robust group tour schedule, the planning of and hands-on support to events and public programs. Throughout her tenure, she oversaw all private events and was responsible for maintaining and developing customer relationships. Through this fellowship, she looks to broaden her experience at MoMA PS1 and augment her understanding of the mechanics of event production and project management for creative organizations.

Nicholas Nazmi (VW Digital Media Fellow) earned his B.A studying Animation and Digital Media from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 2013. As an undergraduate, Nazmi served as Head of the Art Department for the Kenyon Observer and taught courses in digital media at Gambier's Center for Innovative Pedagogy. Upon graduating, Nazmi was awarded a film fellowship at Barcelona's Can Serrat International Art Center, where he worked on two feature-length films. Since moving to New York City in 2014, he has acted as lead editor, teaching artist, animator, and digital media teacher at venues including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York International Children's Film Festival, DiJiFi, The Good School, and Nick Davis Productions. He has completed audio work for clients including NPR and the BBC, contributed to The New York Times, lectured at the Columbia University Startup Lab, and is fluent in all manners of film production as well as in Spanish and Portuguese.

Yih-chuen Liao (VW Director's Office Fellow) began her career in law with two masters degrees from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and Columbia Law School in New York before pursuing a doctorate degree in international relations. She held positions at the United Nations Preparatory Commission of the International Court, the German Parliament and the India China Institute at the New School. In 2010 she began her museum career while working with the Tosun Public Interest Foundation where she curated and managed a travelling exhibition of works from the Imperial Tang Court in Taipei. She has since interned at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and will receive her M.A in Art History and Museum Studies at NYU while she receives hands-on experience at MoMA PS1. In addition to speaking Taiwanese, Chinese and German, she is studying Arabic and French.

VW Fellowship:

Volkswagen Group of America has been a major partner of MoMA and MoMA PS1 since 2011. In June of 2015, it was announced that an expanded two-year partnership would enable a wide range of exhibitions, educational opportunities, and special event programming. Included in this partnership is the support for a new cohort of MoMA PS1 VW Fellows, offering opportunities to the brightest young art world professionals from the United States and around the world to work alongside curators and staff at MoMA PS1. The first group of year-long VW Fellows was hosted in 2012-2013 at MoMA PS1 in conjunction with the VW-sponsored exhibition EXPO 1: New York.

About Volkswagen of America, Inc. - Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc., an operating unit of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWoA) is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. VWoA's operations in the United States include research and development, parts and vehicle processing, parts distribution centers, sales, marketing and service offices, financial service centers, and its state -of-the- art manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Volkswagen Group is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. VWoA sells the Beetle, Beetle Convertible, CC, Eos, e-Golf, Golf, Golf GTI, Golf R, Golf SportWagen, Jetta, Passat, Tiguan and Touareg vehicles through approximately 652 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at www.vw.com or media.vw.com to learn more.

MoMA PS1 Background: MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest organizations in the United States devoted to contemporary art. Established in 1976 by Alanna Heiss, MoMA PS1 originated from The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, a not-for-profit organization founded five years prior with the mission of turning abandoned, underutilized buildings in New York City into artist studios and exhibition spaces. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, as it then was known, became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art in 2000.