Diya Vij, a curator and current vice president of curatorial and arts programmes at Powerhouse Arts, has been picked to be New York City’s next Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) commissioner, sources with knowledge of the pick told ARTnews. The New York Times published the news this morning.
Considered to be one of the most important jobs in the city’s arts ecosystem, the commissioner is a hotly watched role whenever a new mayor enters office. The DCA is the largest municipal funder of the arts in the US and provides funding to over 800 cultural organizations throughout the city’s five boroughs. Naturally, the ascension of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose wife, Rama Duwaji, is an artist, has intensified specualtion on who would be picked.
Mamdani described Vij in a statement to the Times as a “visionary and deeply thoughtful leader who understands that art is not ornamental to this city — it is essential to it.”
In November, Mamdani kicked off the speculation when he named the members of his arts and culture transition committees, a 28-member group that included art dealers, curators, journalists, and arts nonprofit administrators. Among those selected were curator and writer Kimberly Drew, Ruba Katrib, chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1, Legacy Russell, executive director and chief curator at the Kitchen, and Gonzalo Casals, a former commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City.
Also on the committee was Vij, who was appointed to her position at Powerhouse, the Brooklyn-bsased hub for arts fabrication and programming, in November. It turns out her tenure at Powerhouse was very short-lived. Prior to Powerhouse, Vij served as a curator at Creative Time where she launched CTHQ, a gathering space for artists working at the intersection of art and politics, established a fellowship for socially engaged artists, relaunched the Creative Time Summit, and helped realize several public art commissions. Shs previously served as an associate curator of public programs at the High Line.
Vij also served in the DCA for four and a half years, from 2014 to 2019, as a digital communications manager. She also launched and managed DCA’s Public Artists in Residence program and led the agency’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative.
The previous DCA commissioner, Laurie Cumbo, was named to the position in March 2022. She had previously served as a member of New York City Council for over a decade, and was the council’s Majority Leader from 2018 to 2021.
