DUMBO has lost its art ambassador.
Zannah Mass, the cultural affairs director for real-estate titan Two Trees, is leaving her post. Next month’s Brooklyn art fair, Verge Art Brooklyn, is her last project for developer David Walentas’s company.
“It’s a very amicable arrangement,” said Mass. “We’ve done great work together. It’s time for us to move on to new directions.”
Two Trees created the role four years ago, hiring Mass as a liaison to the arts community to keep artists involved in the neighborhood’s development.
Over the past four years, that’s included such marketing initiatives as DumboCulture411, an online arts resource, building up the First Thursdays gallery walk, bringing street artist (and Obama poster maker) Shepard Fairey to 81 Front St., helping launch the New York Photo Festival, and producing last year’s DUMBO Arts Festival.
Mass, who is in her mid-thirties, previously worked in DUMBO at St. Ann’s Warehouse as a general manager. She has also worked for Celebrate Brooklyn! as a manager. She will be doing consulting and freelance work while she decides on what her next big move is, she said. Her successor is also up in the air at this point.
“They’ll have somebody here from the art world, but I’ll leave it to them to determine what that role will be,” said Mass. “It’s now on to other ventures and adventures.”
When reached for comment, Walentas’s son, Jed, said, “Two Trees remains committed, as always, to a strong arts presence in DUMBO. We will be unfolding details about our plans shortly.”
