Park Avenue Armory's Presidentship Named By Adam R. Flatto

Park Avenue Armory has announced the naming of the institution's presidency position of President and Executive Producer, made possible by a generous donation from Board of Directors Co-Chair Adam R. Flatto.

This major gift honors the growth and success of the Armory as a cultural institution supporting unconventional work by world class artists that cannot be mounted elsewhere in New York. It also honors the contribution of Rebecca Robertson, the founding President and Executive Producer since 2006. Flatto has been a strategic partner and champion of the organization since the early years of the institution's founding. He joined the Board of Directors in 2007, and joined Elihu Rose as Co-Chair in 2013. Since 2019, Flatto has served as the Co-Chair of the Board with Amanda Riegel.

In recognition of this generous gift-$1-million, which will provide important support for the Armory's general operating expenses over five years-the role of President has been renamed the Adam R. Flatto President for that period.

Adam R. Flatto commented, "It is a great joy and honor to support Park Avenue Armory, an institution whose mission is incredibly important to me. My continued support, both as an avid attendee of our epic artistic programs and as Board Co-Chair, is meant to give all New Yorkers access to epic and unconventional performing and visual arts productions. The gift also recognizes Rebecca's pivotal role in conceptualizing and spearheading the transformation of the historic Armory building into an adventurous, unexpected, and much acclaimed non-profit arts institution. I am very proud of the success this once-new institution has achieved."

Amanda Riegel, Co-Chair of the Armory Board of Directors, said, "We are immensely grateful to Adam for this remarkable gift, which helps ensure the Armory's strong strategic leadership for years to come. His continued support enables the institution to continue the role of filling a critical void in the ecology of New York City."

Rebecca Robertson, the Adam R. Flatto President and Executive Producer, said: "Adam has played a significant role in the development and success of the Armory through his wise counsel, his leadership and his consistent championing of the institution. This newest contribution is yet another example of his generosity and commitment."

ABOUT ADAM R. FLATTO

Adam R. Flatto is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Georgetown Company and oversees all of the firm's activities. In his more than 30 years with Georgetown, Flatto has been involved with the development, acquisition, and ownership of over 20 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate projects throughout the United States.

A native New Yorker, Flatto is committed to advancing the work of civic and cultural organizations in his community. In addition to his stewardship at the Armory, Flatto serves as Chairman of the Housing Committee of the Robin Hood Foundation; Chairman of the Board of the Center for Global Risk and Security at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California; trustee of The Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, and of Works & Process based at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; and Chairman of the Board of The World Around based in New York City.

Flatto is a director of The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was honored in 2015 by the Citizens Union of the City of New York with its Business Leadership Award and in 2022, received the James Rouse Civic Medal of Honor from Enterprise Community Partners. Flatto received his BA in Economics magna cum laude from Brown University with honors and received his MBA from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).

ABOUT Rebecca Robertson

A visionary urban planner and activist, Rebecca Robertson began working closely with co-founders Wade Thompson and Elihu Rose in 1996, developing the vision to repurpose the historic Seventh Regiment Armory as a new non-profit cultural center and securing a 99-year lease with state of New York. She has served as Founding President and Executive Producer since 2006, spearheading the ongoing revitalization and transformation of the historic Armory building into a non-profit cultural institution.

Robertson has advanced Park Avenue Armory's mission, allowing the public to experience epic and adventurous works of art that cannot be mounted in traditional performance halls and museums. Under Robertson's leadership, the Armory has garnered critical and popular acclaim for epic, unconventional productions in the performing and visual arts; offered public programming, recital, and contemporary performance series in the historic rooms; and developed an arts education program that serves more than 5,000 students from under-resourced New York City public schools.

From 2000 through 2006, Robertson served as Executive Director of Lincoln Center Redevelopment, the $1.4-billion redevelopment of the cultural center as a 24/7 transparent and accessible campus with state-of-the-art facilities. Prior to that, she headed Special Projects at The Shubert Organization, Broadway's largest theater owner. Between 1987 and 1997, Robertson was President of the 42nd Street Development Project, the State entity that re-planned and redeveloped 42nd Street between Seventh and Broadway from "the sleaziest block in America" (according to Rolling Stone) into a 13-acre vibrant mixed-use area with offices, entertainment, several restored historic theaters, rehearsal space, and huge lights and signs. She also served as a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

ABOUT PARK AVENUE ARMORY

Part palace, part industrial shed, Park Avenue Armory supports unconventional works in the performing and visual arts that cannot be fully realized in a traditional proscenium theater, concert hall, or white wall gallery. With its soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall-reminiscent of 19th-century European train stations-and an array of exuberant period rooms, the Armory provides a platform for artists to push the boundaries of their practice, collaborate across disciplines, and create new work in dialogue with the historic building. Across its grand and intimate spaces, the Armory enables a diverse range of artists to create, students to explore, and audiences to experience epic, adventurous, relevant work that cannot be done elsewhere in New York.

The Armory both commissions and presents performances and installations in the grand Drill Hall and offers more intimate programming through its acclaimed Recital Series, which showcases musical talent from across the globe within the salon setting of the Board of Officers Room; its Artists Studio series curated by Jason Moran in the restored Veterans Room; Making Space at the Armory, a public programming series that brings together a discipline-spanning group of artists and cultural thought-leaders around the important issues of our time; and the Malkin Lecture Series that features presentations by scholars and writers on topics related to Park Avenue Armory and its history. In addition, the Armory also has a year-round Artists-in-Residence program, providing space and support for artists to create new work and expand their practices.

Programmatic highlights include Ernesto Neto's anthropodino, a magical labyrinth extended across the Drill Hall; Bernd Alois Zimmermann's harrowing Die Soldaten in which the audience literally moved through the music; the event of a thread, a site-specific installation by Ann Hamilton; the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on three separate stages; an immersive Macbeth set in a Scottish heath with Kenneth Branagh; WS by Paul McCarthy, a monumental installation of fantasy, excess, and dystopia; a radically inclusive staging of Bach's St. Matthew Passion staged by Peter Sellars and performed by Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker; eight-time Drama Desk-nominated play The Hairy Ape, directed by Richard Jones and starring Bobby Cannavale; Hansel & Gretel, a commission of Ai Weiwei, Jacques Herzog, and Pierre de Meuron that explored publicly shared space in the era of surveillance; Simon Stone's heralded production of Yerma starring Billie Piper in her North American debut; The Let Go, a site-specific immersive dance celebration by Nick Cave; Satoshi Miyagi's stunning production of Antigone set in a river; Sam Mendes' critically acclaimed production of The Lehman Trilogy; the Black Artists Retreat hosted by Theaster Gates, which included public talks and performances, private sessions for the 300 attending artists, and a roller skating rink; Social Distance Hall, a commission series featuring work by David Byrne, Steven Hoggett, Christine Jones, Bill T. Jones, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran and Robert Icke; The Shape of Things, a multimedia exhibition and convening created by Carrie Mae Weems; Rashaad Newsome's Assembly, an experiential work which transformed the Drill Hall into an exhibition space, performance hall, and classroom; and Monochromatic Light (Afterlife), featuring the musical composition by Tyshawn Sorey, ritualized by Peter Sellars with works by celebrated visual artist Julie Mehretu and choreography by flex pioneer Reggie (Regg Roc) Gray.

The Armory's creativity-based arts education programs provide access to the arts to thousands of students from underserved New York City public schools, engaging them with the institution's artistic programming and outside-the-box creative processes. Through its education initiatives, the Armory provides access to all Drill Hall performances, workshops taught by Master Teaching Artists, and in-depth residencies that support the schools' curriculum. Youth Corps, the Armory's year-round paid internship program, begins in high school and continues into the critical post-high school years, providing interns with mentored employment, job training, and skill development, as well as a network of peers and mentors to support their individual college and career goals.

The Armory is undergoing a multi-phase renovation and restoration of its historic building led by architects Herzog & de Meuron, with Platt Byard Dovell White as Executive Architects.

For more information visit: www.armoryonpark.org