Board of Directors
Officers
Marc Straus MD: Chairman of the Board
Dr. Marc Straus ran an oncology practice in White Plains, NY, and authored the seminal textbook on lung cancer. He was President of the Board and Head of the Exhibition Committee of The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut, during which time the museum garnered numerous grants and an international reputation for its groundbreaking school educational programs and its prescient exhibits of emerging artists. He has curated several museum and gallery exhibits, including 1994’s “The Lineage of Eva Hesse”. He has written critical essays for several art publications.
Marc is also a well-known poet who has written three books of poetry, Symmetry (2000), One Word (1994) and NOT GOD (2006), all published by TriQuarterly Books, Northwestern University Press. NOT GOD, a play in verse has been performed Off Broadway twice and was the basis of a museum exhibit at Lehigh University Zoellner Art Galleries 2004 (“The Bridge”) in collaboration with artist, Rick Levinson. In 2021, Dr, Straus’s memoir “One Legged Mongoose”, was published by Greenpoint Press.
Dr. Straus was the recipient of the Robert Penn Warren Award in poetry from Yale University. He is a regular contributor to Providence Art Review. He also served on the Advisory Board for the Cincinnati Museum of Contemporary Art as well as on the Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College. Dr. Straus has published some 100 scientific papers on cancer medicine and edited three textbooks on lung cancer.
In 2011 he opened Marc Straus Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower Eastside, representing emerging talents as well as established artists with the goal of aiding artists in developing their careers, a natural extension of his work at Hudson Valley MOCA.
Livia Straus: President
Dr. Livia Selmanowitz Straus is an educator who has lectured widely on art and spirituality. She is Professor Emeritus of Education and Jewish Religious Thought at The Academy for Jewish Religion and was Adjunct Professor of Theology at Fordham University. From 1994-1997, she was Adjunct Professor of Education at Hebrew Union College. Livia Straus earned her Doctorate at New York University in Judaic Studies with a concentration in Medieval Jewish History.
Prior to her work in academia, Livia Straus was Director of Education at Bet Am Shalom, a Reconstructionist Congregation in White Plains, NY, at Park Avenue Synagogue (Conservative) and at Central Synagogue (Reform), both in Manhattan. She has participated in various inter-religious dialogues, including the Valparaiso Project. In 1989, she was Program Chair for the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) Hofstra Conference, with participants numbering 5,000, and from 1987-1990, Chairperson of the Editorial Board of CAJE Jewish Education News. From 2004-2006, she was Chairman of the National Jewish Book Council Awards. Dr. Straus has lectured widely and published many articles as well as a text on Contemporary Jewish Medical Ethics.
Livia Straus was on the Board of the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, New York, the Hebrew Union College Museum in Manhattan, and the Contemporary Acquisition Committee at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan. She also served on the Advisory Board for the Cincinnati Museum of Contemporary Art and as Curatorial Advisor for Riyadh Metro, Saudi Arabia.
Treasurer: Ms. Eileen Kaminsky
Eileen Kaminsky a native New Yorker was raised in Belle Harbor, NY. She is a mother of two and grandmother of five great kids, a student of art and a graduate of Adelphi University, Suma Cum Laude. Ms. Kaminsky is a prominent collector of contemporary art, an interest she began in 1990. Since this time, she has contributed art works to several museum collections that include the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, New York.
Ms. Kaminsky is the Vice President of Merchandising at Gem Financial Services; is on the board of the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (HVCCA) and formerly, board of directors of the Friars Club Foundation and Exit Art. The Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation (ESKFF) is an artist residency program for local, national and international mid-career, emerging artists and students. Its mission is to provide stipends for materials, grants, educational programs, exhibition opportunities, visiting professionals, and studio space in an environment that promotes self-growth, encourages dialogue and collaboration between artists, where it is safe to experiment and take creative risks. The Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation (ESKFF) was founded in 2009 by its’ namesake who became inspired through her personal experience as a collector and entrepreneur.
Board Members
Stacie Packer: Boca Raton, Florida, Philanthropist, BOCA Museum of Art, 1st year bd. member.
Scott Balber, Esq.: Managing Partner, NY & US Head of Investigations and Financial Services Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP; year 5 on board.
Peter Bynum: Artist, Peekskill, year 7 on board.
Nathan Rich: Architect, Peterson Rich Office, New York, year 5 on board.
John Sharp: Restauranteur, Peekskill, year 5 on board.
Ari Straus: Entrepreneur, Tampa, Florida; Founding family.
Livia Straus Ph.D.: Co-Founder Hudson Valley MOCA; Founding family
Marc Straus MD FACP: Co-Founder Hudson Valley MOCA, Owner Marc Straus Gallery, LLC
Sarena Straus Esq.: Author, Founder and Managing Partner, Sarena Straus PLLC; Founding Family.
Judith Zabar: Philanthopist, Artist, year 16 on board.
Lori Zablow-Salles, Esq.: Entertainment & Trademark Lawyer, Croton, NY, year 5 on board.
Dan Hong: CEO and Co-Founder of Global Custom Integrations; Hawthorne, NY, year 5 on board.
Eileen Kaminsky: Chair of Eileen S. KAminsky Family Foundation; NY and Florida, year 10 on board.
Christina Lessa: Art Consultant, ArtVue World Wide; NY and Ryadh, Saudi Arabia; year 4 on board.
Louie Lanza: Restauranteur, Entrepreneur, Peekskill, year 7 on board.
Antonio Ocasio Esq.: Founder and Partner of Aragon Partners LLC., NYC, year 17 on board.
John Van Dekker: Owner Enormous Creative Digital Marketing Agency, Peekskill, year 4 on board.
Staff, 2023
Livia Straus: President: See Bio above
Sara Pasti: Project Coordinator, Enlighten Peekskill:
Arts and development consultant, Hudson Valley. 2009-2019, Neil C. Trager Director at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Prior to her appointment at The Dorsky, Sara was an arts and community development consultant specializing in start-up projects, strategic planning, and capital and institutional fund development. She participated in the launch of several non-profit organizations and major program initiatives—including the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Visual Arts Initiative. She held executive leadership positions in both visual and performing arts organizations, serving as Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington and as Managing Director of the Behnke Center for Contemporary Performance in Seattle, among others.
Mara Mills: Education Coordinator; Creative Director Performance program, Studio Theatre in Exile:
Mara Mills has been an educator, storyteller, writer, stage director and producer for over 40 years. In 1991, she founded the Herbert Mark Newman Theatre with Marsha Newman and Jeremy Gratt, at the Rosenthal JCC in Pleasantville, NY. Her focus, at the theatre and in her teaching and storytelling, is to provide ways to creatively involve the community, examine social issues through the arts, and to introduce new work to the public. She received the 1995 East Coast Theater Conference award for Outstanding Service to Theater and the 2007 Cab Calloway Award for Theater. Mara is a published poet, playwright, and writer and has published academic integrated curriculum that brings together the arts and academic learning.
Leigh Michelson: Grant Writer, Consultant:
Expertise in Curation & Management in museum, university and non-profit arts spaces, featuring emerging, mid-career and established artists from across the nation. Ms. Mickelson oversaw the expansion and renovation of four new gallery spaces for two separate non-profit arts organizations, and designed exhibition charters for each space. She served as curator for several public art events, gallery exhibitions, and university projects, created exhibition themes, invited artists, created cross disciplinary programming, and marketed events in media outlets. While working at the Clay Arts Center in Westchester County, Leigh was promoted to Executive Director and oversaw full-time employees, consultants, events related staff, volunteers, and interns. She oversaw growth, development and promotion of exhibitions and education programming. From 2019-2020 she served as Interim Executive Director at HVMOCA before establishing her independent arts consulting firm.
JoAnn Brody: Communications and Gallery coordinator:
Ms. Brody has been with HVMOCA for the over 15 years as communications and gallery coordinator. A talented sculptor, Ms. Brody has also offered classes in our adult education as well as school programming. Jo-Ann majored in art at Reed and wrote her thesis, Gesture of the Human Form, with Lloyd Reynolds. Living now in Peekskill, New York, Jo-Ann is an artist-in-residence with the New York Public School system and a Young Audiences awardee for the City of New York.
John Van Dekker: Enormous Creative LLC: Web Design and Maintenance
Managing firm for Marketing and Technology professionals to deliver exceptional results for clients in Branding, Marketing and Technology projects.
Chris Fox: Art Installer
Dana Singer: Bookkeeping