Leadership

David Kratz, President

David Kratz is a painter and the President of the New York Academy of Art. In 2008, he received an MFA from the Academy, where he focused on figurative art and won the Vasari Prize for best-in-show painting at the MFA Thesis exhibition. Kratz has shown in group exhibitions at the New York Academy of Art, Lodge Gallery and Sotheby’s, and at Eden Rock Gallery in St. Barth. Prior to attending the Academy, Kratz was the founder and CEO of Magnet Communications, a leading public relations firm. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Boston University School of Law, Kratz has served on the boards of Citymeals-on-Wheels, the Lifelines Center, and the New Group, as well as helping to found One Day’s Pay. He became president of the Academy in 2009, and since then developed a new strategic plan, spearheaded a facilities renovation and expansion, overseen the Academy’s accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and organized some of the most successful fundraising events the Academy has seen.

 

 

Peter Drake, Provost

Peter Drake was appointed Provost in January 2018 and previously served as the Dean of Academic Affairs since 2010 at the New York Academy of Art. Drake continues to be a Thesis Advisor having previously taught at Parsons the New School for Design, SVA, and MICA.

As a visual artist his art has been featured in 28 Solo exhibitions and his work is held in numerous collections throughout the US, China and Europe including the Whitney Museum of Art, Phoenix Museum of Art, MOCA LA, Weatherspoon Art Museum and the L.A. County Museum of Art. Drake’s MTA Arts & Design permanent public art commission for the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) Massapequa Station opened to the public in 2015. Waiting for Toydot features 18 art glass windows and 5 ceramic/glass mosaics installed throughout the train station and is seen by over 6,000 commuters daily.

He actively lectures and curates and previously was a curator for The Drawing Center in New York City and wrote for Flash Art Magazine. He served as a board member of the Artist Fellowship, Inc. and has been a jurist for the AXA Art Prize 2018-2024.

Drake has received a National Endowment for the Arts Award, a New York Foundation Fellowship and was a recipient of the Two Trees Cultural Space Subsidy Program Grant 2016-2022.

Drake maintains a studio in Dumbo, Brooklyn and is represented by Linda Warren Projects, Chicago & Los Angeles, Healy Contemporaneo, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas.

Board of Trustees

Eileen Guggenheim, Ph.D., Chair

Rick Segal, Vice Chair

Susan Wasserstein, Secretary

Bob Cochran, Treasurer

 

 

 

Ashley Abess

Curtis Bashaw

Alain Bernard

Richard Blumenthal

Nicolas Bos

Gray Coleman

Ben Feder

Renée Fields

Eric Fischl

Bridget Gless Keller

Jennifer Gilbert

Alexander Gilkes

Margot Gordon

Marsha Haygood

Allison Hill-Edgar

Sharon Jacob

Helen King

Lisa Lebofsky

Kamie Lightburn

Alyssa Monks

Nicole Salmasi

Jennifer Schipf

Brooke Shields

Whitney Stevens

Jonathan Tibett

David Walentas

Russell Wilkinson

Chris Wilson

Trustees Emeriti

Gordon Bethune

 

 

President’s
Advisory Board

Bob Colacello

Joe Dunning

Vincent Fremont

Zani Gugelmann

Gabby Karan

Zoya Loeb

Justin Mohr

Carrie Rebora Barratt

Stephanie Roach

Jordan Tamagni

Artist
Advisory Council

John Alexander

Ali Banisadr

Will Cotton

Eric Fischl

Hilary Harkness

Damian Loeb

Enoc Perez

Alexis Rockman