Staff Bios

  • Maureen McMahon

    Development Manager, Individual Giving & Special Events

    Maureen started her career in Development with The MacDowell Colony in fall 2005 and joined LMCC in January 2008. As Development Manager, Individual Giving & Special Events, she manages and organizes special events, from The Downtown Dinner, LMCC's annual benefit which raises upwards of $1 million each year, to VIP and cultivation events for prospective donors, current funders, and other friends of LMCC. Additionally, she helps plan and execute LMCC’s individual donor campaigns and programs. Maureen graduated summa cum laude from Wellesley College in 2005 with a French major and Art History minor. She is co-chair of the New York Committee for the Wellesley College Friends of Art, an alumnae fundraising organization that supports the college's campus art museum. In addition to attending art and theatre events around the city, Maureen enjoys eating, reading, and writing about food.

  • Marisa Olsen

    Marketing Manager, Audience Development

    Marisa considers herself a native New Yorker. She spent her first 10 years on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and then made a brief detour to New Jersey. Marisa graduated from Connecticut College in 2006 with a BA in Art History. At Conn, she studied with Barbara Zabel, Joseph Alchermes, and Arnold Chang, and also curated a Contemporary Chinese Art exhibit from the Charles Chu collection. During a semester abroad, she studied with Libby Sheldon, famous art authenticator at University College London. During summers, she enjoyed working at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, the domogallery, and teaching ballet. She also had an internship in the Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art department. Upon graduating, Marisa worked at Sotheby's as an Editorial Assistant for Preview Magazine. After Sotheby's, Marisa spent a year in a Boston boutique staffing firm, where she honed her business and sales skills. Marisa is now thrilled to be back in New York City, where she enjoys visiting galleries, cooking gourmet meals, and working on her food blog, Les Foodités.

  • Ariel Phillips

    Development Associate

    As Development Associate, Ariel supports all aspects of LMCC's fundraising efforts and also serves as Executive Assistant to the President. She earned a master's degree in Art History from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts and received a BA in Art History from Yale University in 2006. Before going back to school for her MA, Ariel worked at Chelsea gallery Alexander and Bonin as a Gallery Assistant and Registrar. A former amateur dancer, Ariel is now an aspiring marathon runner who spends her free time running loops around Prospect Park, cooking, traveling, and cheering for her hometown LA sports teams.

  • Morgan von Prelle Pecelli, PhD

    Senior Director of Institutional Advancement

    Morgan von Prelle Pecelli, PhD is a curator, producer, anthropologist and occasional performing artist who has been working in New York City’s contemporary performance sector since 1999. Before joining LMCC, she served as Director of Development for Performance Space 122. She also served as Co-curator (10 & 09) and Dramaturg (08) for the Prelude Festival. She was Artistic and Development Director for Emerging Artists at 3LD Art & Technology Center from 2007 - 2008. She is on the Board of Directors of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater where she was the Managing and Programming Director from 2004 – 2006. In 2005, she started the Ontological-Hysteric Incubator, through which she curated and produced festivals and residencies in 2005 and 2006. Since 2002, she has also operated as The Lost Notebook, an entity dedicated to advocating on behalf of and supporting artists working in the contemporary sector . The last few years have included appearances on stage in the Richard Foreman/John Zorn Opera “Astronome” at the Ontological Theater in NYC, in SU-EN’s large-scale butoh piece "Linné Gala Event 2007: New Life" in Uppsalla Sweden, and a solo butoh piece "The Bell Girl" performed at the CAVE Artspace in Brooklyn. In 2010, she completed her PhD in Anthropology at Columbia University. The title of her dissertation was “Tendrils of Lost Time and the Self: An Aesthetic Anthropology of New York City’s “Post”-Avant-Garde”. Part art-historical document, part socio-cultural post-industrial anthropology, her dissertation took a critical look at the socio-economic conditions of a generation of artists coming of professional ‘age’ during the decade from 1999 to 2009, following in the wake of the American Avant-Garde theatrical and performance artists of the 1970s and 80s, and living at the pioneering-aesthetic edges of New York City's cultural life, urban landscapes, hybrid economies, and fragmented histories. While completing her dissertation at Columbia, she taught courses on Anarchistic Anthropology and Western ethics and political theory. Before attending Columbia, she received an MA from the University of Chicago, was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, received a BA from Colby College, and is a proud alumna of Philips Academy (Andover).

  • Raina Sutton

    Program Assistant, Artist Residencies

    Prior to joining LMCC in 2012, Raina most recently worked at the Museum for African Art as the Assistant to the President. As an arts administrator, she has worked at the Mead Art Museum and the Museum of the City of New York, as well as non-profit performing arts presenting organizations.

    Raina is also an active freelance costume designer and has designed for dance and theater productions, including Cloud Tectonics, The Mistakes Madeline Made, and Tartuffe. She received a BA in Art and the History of Art from Amherst College, and is a candidate for the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance Professional Certificate at Wesleyan University. Her academic interests include performance studies, specifically the embodiment of memory and trauma, metaphysics, and Buddhism. Through the arts, Raina looks critically into the various aspects of identity, spirituality, ritual, and healing as they relate to story-telling. A Brooklyn native, she enjoys live music performances, watching films, and discovering local Brooklyn gems.

  • Diego Segalini

    Vice President

    A Brooklyn native who now calls the Lower East Side home, Diego is a first generation Italian-American artist and arts administrator. Prior to joining LMCC in May 2007, Diego spent three years as Managing Director of 3LD where he played a pivotal role in fundraising, financial planning and project management to establish a multi-million dollar Art & Technology Center in Lower Manhattan. Most recently he worked for Nonprofit Finance Fund where he was responsible for performing financial and organizational analyses for clients nationwide. As Vice President of LMCC, Diego is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, including finance, human resources and information technology. He develops and administers the budget for all LMCC programs, including the annual River To River Festival and LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island, and plays a lead role in strategic planning for the organization. Early in his career, Diego designed and produced dozens of plays, films and special events and continues to pursue artistic endeavors in his spare time. He holds a double B.A. in Drama and Mathematics from Vassar College and is a proud alum of Stuyvesant High School.

  • Claire Gresham

    Program Assistant, Grants & Services

    Claire Gresham began working with LMCC as a gallery docent for Building 110 on Governor’s Island before becoming a part of the Grants & Services team. Her administrative background includes working as a Producing Associate with Page 73 Productions, as the Director of Play Development/Literary Manager for The Truffle Theatre Company, as the Director of Development for The Truck Project, and as a Traffic Coordinator in the Marketing/Brand Management division of Tiffany and Company. A graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, Claire is also an actor, director, amateur painter and stop motion animator. She is a resident company member of The Truffle Theatre Company here in New York, and The NOLA Project Theatre Company back in New Orleans. Additional New York theatre credits include working with The Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Flea, New Georges, The Firework Theater Company, Kids with Guns, Ars Nova, and 3Graces.

  • Andrew Horwitz

    Curator, River To River Festival

    Andrew Horwitz is a curator and producer based in NYC. He has worked as producer at Performance Space 122 and as curator of PRELUDE, a festival of contemporary theater and performance at the Martin E. Segal Theater Center of the Graduate Center at CUNY. He has served on many panels and taught career development workshops at artist service organization The Field. He is the founder and editor of Culturebot.org, a website devoted to arts, culture and ideas.

  • Danielle King

    Program Manager, Public Programs

    A native New Orleanian, Danielle King is a creative producer and arts administrator. Prior to joining the LMCC team in 2012, she was a stage manager for theaters throughout New York and regionally, including The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, SoHo Rep, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, and worked with companies like Clubbed Thumb, SITI Company, 13P, and P73. She also spent six summers facilitating new play development at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference. Danielle is passionate about interdisciplinary work, art in nontraditional spaces, and promoting dialogue and innovative collaboration between visual and performing artists. She holds a B.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a M.A. in Arts Administration from Columbia University.

  • Anne Lai

    Finance & Operations Associate

    Anne Lai joined LMCC in 2011. She has worked in the archives at the Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation. She received a BFA in Art, Media and Technology from the Photography program at Parsons the New School of Design. She is an artist interested in working on outdated modes of communication.

  • Melissa Levin

    Director of Cultural Programs

    Melissa Levin joined LMCC in 2005 and is currently the Director of Cultural Programs. Previously, she has worked at Artforum International Magazine, Andrea Rosen Gallery, and The Whitney Museum of American Art. She has participated in panels at Baruch College, Dumbo Arts Center, Lower East Side Print Shop, Center for Book Arts, and Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts; and lectured at SMFA, NYU, Parsons: The New School for Design, and The Cleveland Institute of Art. Melissa is also an independent curator and writer and has curated exhibitions at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Cuchifritos Gallery, ISE Cultural Foundation, Andrea Rosen Gallery, LMCC, and Taylor De Cordoba Gallery, Los Angeles. Melissa received her BA with honors in Visual Art and Art History from Barnard College.

  • Clare McNulty

    Program Associate, Artist Residencies

    Clare McNulty first joined LMCC as an artistic associate of Swing Space artist-in-residence Sinking Ship Productions. An independent theater artist, actress and film producer, Clare has worked in San Francisco and New York with Cutting Ball Theatre Company, African American Shakespeare Company, Ars Nova, Columbia's Graduate School of Theater Arts, Truffle Theatre Company, International WOW Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, and the NYU Graduate Film Program. She remains an artistic associate of Sinking Ship Productions and frequently collaborates with film writer/director Sarah-Violet Bliss. She received her BA with honors in Theater and Comparative Politics from Oberlin College.

  • Sam Miller

    President

    A devoted advocate for the arts, Sam Miller brings a nationally recognized profile to the organization. Most recently, he spent five years as President of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), developing efforts centered on increasing direct support for artists. Prior to his work at LINC, Miller was Executive Director of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) for ten years. Prior to NEFA, Miller was at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival where he served as President and Executive Director. He serves as President of the Board of LINC, as Director of the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) at Wesleyan University, and on the Advisory Board of ODC/San Francisco and on the Board of Amrita Performing Arts in Phnom Penh.

  • Robert Minell

    Marketing Manager, Transmedia Content and Technology

    Robert Minell is a graphic designer, musician, and lover of all things multimedia. He holds a B.A. in Communication and Music Management from William Paterson University. Following his undergraduate studies he enrolled in the New School University to complete his M.A. in Media Studies. His professional career began with an internship in the marketing department at top independent record label TVT Records. From there he moved on to the international sales and marketing department of Putumayo World Music - updating websites, creating digital content and occasionally locating lost international shipments. Robert went on to work for Moleskine America - handling design of the organization's marketing materials and visual communications. Currently, Robert spends his free time writing music, using Photoshop to place his friends into a variety of historical scenes and experiencing as much art, design and live music as possible throughout New York City.

  • Laura Nicoll

    Marketing Manager, Branding & Public Relations

    Prior to joining LMCC, Laura worked as the Communications & Branding Manager for Performance Space 122 (June 2008 – November 2012). As a performer, Laura is a classically trained dancer who has recently appeared in The Passion Project and A Christmas Carol (both created + directed by Reid Farrington). She is interested in cultural, economic, and political trends and their points of intersection. @lauraknicoll

  • Prachi Patankar

    Program Manager, Grants & Services

    Prachi Patankar joined the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council to coordinate LMCC's regranting and professional development programs. Prior to joining LMCC, Prachi worked at the Tenement Museum as their Education Associate, where she curated the Tenement Windows Arts program bringing contemporary artists in dialogue with new immigrants through the Shared Journeys (ESOL) program. She also managed Kitchen Conversations, a daily public dialogue Program and the monthly immigration film series at the Museum. Prachi has a MA from New York University in International Education and Communications. She was born and brought up in India and moved to the United States at the age of sixteen. After receiving her BA from Swarthmore College in 2000, she went back to India where she established a school for children of people displaced by dams. She is a founding member of the 3rd I New York collective, a monthly film and music salon that showcases the works of South Asian independent filmmakers. In addition, she has worked in various capacities with media-focused nonprofits like POV and Youth Channel, as well as those focusing on social justice issues such as WITNESS, CHHAYA, and DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving).

  • William Penrose

    Program Manager, Artist Residencies

    Will, having joined LMCC in May 2010, is an advocate for providing direct support to artists of all disciplines. His background includes working at the Scottsdale Cultural Council for both Scottsdale Public Art and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Upon relocating to New York, Will was the registrar at Sundaram Tagore Gallery based in Chelsea and with locations in Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Additionally, he does research on living artists. As the Project Coordinator at the Research Center for Arts and Culture, he managed and was a contributing author to Still Kicking: Aging Performing Artists in NYC and LA Metro Areas, a research project that documented the artistic lives and social needs of performing artists aged 62 and older in New York City and Los Angeles. Will holds an MA in Arts Administration from Columbia University, as well as a BS in Economics and a BFA in Drawing from the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University.

  • Diego Segalini

    Vice President

    A Brooklyn native who now calls the Lower East Side home, Diego is a first generation Italian-American artist and arts administrator. Prior to joining LMCC in May 2007, Diego spent three years as Managing Director of 3LD where he played a pivotal role in fundraising, financial planning and project management to establish a multi-million dollar Art & Technology Center in Lower Manhattan. Most recently he worked for Nonprofit Finance Fund where he was responsible for performing financial and organizational analyses for clients nationwide. As Vice President of LMCC, Diego is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, including finance, human resources and information technology. He develops and administers the budget for all LMCC programs, including the annual River To River Festival and LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island, and plays a lead role in strategic planning for the organization. Early in his career, Diego designed and produced dozens of plays, films and special events and continues to pursue artistic endeavors in his spare time. He holds a double B.A. in Drama and Mathematics from Vassar College and is a proud alum of Stuyvesant High School.

  • Kay Takeda

    Director of Grants & Services

    Kay joined the Council in March 2005 to develop and oversee the Council’s downtown-focused cultural grants, borough-wide grant programs and artist services. Prior to joining the staff, she served for five years as Program Manager of the Advised Funds and Regranting Programs division at Arts International, where she oversaw a roster of national-level grant programs providing support for visual and performing artists working internationally. Her background includes three years with Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island, New York as Assistant Director of Visual Arts, where she managed contemporary art exhibitions and public programs as well as a studio program that provided workspace and professional development opportunities for visual artists. She serves on the Board of Directors of Goliath Visual Space in Brooklyn.

  • Lorilynn Violanta

    Development Manager, Institutional Giving & Government Relations

    Lorilynn Violanta manages institutional giving and government relations at LMCC. Most recently, she was Development Officer at The Posse Foundation, which recruits and trains outstanding public high school students to attend top colleges and universities. She has also previously worked at the City of Philadelphia and Free Arts of Arizona, a nonprofit that brings the healing power of the arts to vulnerable youth. With experience in fund development, community outreach, and volunteer management, she is passionate about the arts and community development. Lorilynn has Master of Public Administration from Baruch College and a BA in printmaking and mixed media from Arizona State University.

  • Haowen Wang

    Program Manager, Grants & Services

    Haowen Wang is a Taiwan native, a New Zealand citizen and a bogus New Yorker living in New Jersey. Prior to joining LMCC, Haowen worked as the General Manager for Ping Chong & Company, the internationally recognized experimental theatre company that supports the works of avant-garde theatre director, Ping Chong. Other experiences include working at the Asian American Arts Alliance where he implemented a two-year regrants program serving the artists and arts groups of the Manhattan Chinatown area, as well as administering several other programs that serve Asian American artists and arts groups in New York City, many of whom he still works with in different capacities. His most memorable experience was when he toured nationally in Taiwan as an actor in a children’s theatre company during college years; he had to quit so he can finish his degree. Haowen holds a MA in Performance Studies at NYU. He is a Christian and enjoys traveling everywhere with his wife.