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\n\tThe New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has named two senior leadership appointments: Bryan Joseph Lee as deputy commissioner and Ryan Max as chief of staff.<\/p>\n
\n\tTheir appointments, according to a release, \u201cwill help guide the agency as it rolls out ambitious new programs to deliver on the Mamdani administration\u2019s affordability agenda for the cultural community, while focusing in supporting the work of agency staff to deliver excellence in public service.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLee is a cultural strategist and producer, who since 2021 has a Harlem-based consultancy named CNTR ARTS. His two-decade career has spanned working in the performing arts and museums, and his clients have included the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid-America Artist Alliance, the Mellon Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation. Previously he served as the artistic director of the Public Forum at the Public Theater. During his tenure at Public Forum, he produced over 75 programs featuring over 250 artists. He has also independently produced programs at Lincoln Center, La MaMa, and the Shed.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn a time when the city is looking for leadership that can boost, ground, and galvanize the support that is needed, I am ecstatic to see Bryan Joseph Lee join this forward thinking administration,\u201d Jonathan\u00a0McCory, executive artistic director of the National Black Theater in Harlem, said in a statement.\u201cHe has worked in the sector for years and seen how each neighborhood has been affected by, supported, and deserves creative opportunities focused on providing access to all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSince 2014, Max has been the department\u2019s director of external affairs, where he has overseen the communications strategy for the county\u2019s largest municipal funder of the arts. During his tenure, he has led the public roll-out for several of the department\u2019s initiatives, including IDNYC cultural benefit program and its response to the pandemic\u2019s effect on the cultural sector.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a statement, former commissioner Tom Finkelpearl said, \u201cRyan Max has earned the trust and respect of colleagues across the agency, city government and the cultural community. As Chief of Staff, Ryan will bring integrity, humanity and strategic vision to this essential role in the agency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a statement, DCLA commissioner Diya Vij described Max as \u201ca pillar of every major initiative to come out of DCLA since 2014\u201d and Lee as a cultural worker who has \u201cspent years pushing for greater equity and care for artists and workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe added, \u201cLee brings a depth of experience across the performing arts, shaping grant programs, building the capacity of nonprofits, curating groundbreaking performances and festivals, and leading major community engagement initiatives. \u2026 Ryan will be instrumental to DCLA\u2019s ability to execute an excellence in government that this administration strives for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BJLHeadshot-2026-Cropped-1.jpg?w=1024″] The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has named two senior leadership appointments: Bryan Joseph Lee as deputy commissioner and Ryan Max as chief of staff. Their appointments, according to a release, \u201cwill help guide the agency as it rolls out ambitious new programs to deliver on the Mamdani administration\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2097874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2097874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097874\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2097874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2097874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2097874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}