The Power of Art in the Corporate World

Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

High Line Nine Gallery
507 West 27th St., New York, NY 10001

Contact: info@cbsacny.org

Join us for an engaging evening with a panel of esteemed corporate executives at the forefront of integrating art into the business world. This dynamic discussion will uncover the potent intersection of art, real estate, technology, corporate innovation and social impact.

This leadership conversation is poised to be a thought-provoking session set to challenge and broaden your perspective on how the corporate world plays a pivotal role in nurturing and expanding the art landscape. Witness firsthand how these leaders are redefining the role of art in shaping corporate culture and community experiences.

Panelists

• Christina Maxwell, Director, Related Companies
• Elysa Marden, Senior Vice President of Arts & Events, Brookfield Properties
• Corrie Jackson, Senior Curator, RBC
• Tina Vaz, Strategist and Executive, Former Head of Open Arts, Meta
• (Moderator) Fanyu Lin, Artist and Entrepreneur, Chair, Art & International Committee, CBSACNY

Agenda

• 5:30 – 6:00pm: Exhibition viewing and networking
• 6:00 – 6:15pm: Opening Remarks by:
  Wright Harvey, Founder of Sugarlift
• 6:15 – 7:30pm: Panel discussion
• 7:30 – 8:00pm: Exhibition viewing and networking

Bios of All Speakers

Christina Maxwell is a New York City-based singer, actress and executive. Maxwell works at the intersection of the arts and the corporate world as Director at global real estate firm, The Related Companies.  She serves as the Executive Director of High Line Nine Galleries, Related Companies’ collection of gallery spaces and advises on the company’s art acquisitions, overseeing the Art @ Related program. She also advises on cultural partnerships and corporate mental health strategy, leading strategic partnerships with organizations including Project Healthy Minds and Festival Napa Valley. A graduate of University of Michigan’s acclaimed Musical Theatre department, Maxwell is an award winning singer and actress who performs in concert across the globe. Maxwell previously served as a Pediatric Oncology Arts Therapist for the New York City nonprofit, RipRap, providing one-on-one music and art sessions to children battling cancer.  She was named the Distinguished Young Woman of America in 2012, for excellence in scholastics, leadership and talent, joining the ranks of women including Diane Sawyer and Deborah Norville. Maxwell is a native of Asheville, North Carolina.

Elysa Marden is the Senior Vice President of Arts & Events for Brookfield Properties, responsible for overseeing the Arts & Culture activations in the public spaces of the office properties in the Northeast. Elysa joined Brookfield Properties in 2007 as the Interim Production Director and has subsequently held the positions Producing Director, Senior Producing Director, and Vice President for Arts & Events. She has held her current role since 2021. Prior to joining Brookfield Properties, Elysa was a freelance stage director and Artistic Director of the WorkShop Theater Company.

Corrie Jackson is the Senior Art Curator at RBC and is responsible for directing the management and growth strategy of the RBC Corporate Art Collection. She oversees the international art collection team and leads the acquisition, installation, and care of RBC’s over 6,000 works. Started in 1929, the RBC Art Collection is anchored in the support of Canadian artists, and disseminating their work through national and international locations, while also ensuring the collection is an accessible resource for clients, employees, and the public. A graduate of the University of Toronto Master’s in Curatorial Studies, Jackson currently sits on the advisory board of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and on the board of the Gardiner Museum, where she also serves a member of the Governance Committee.

Tina Vaz is a strategist and executive with a background in advancing pace-setting brands in art and culture, technology, and public media. As Head of Meta’s Open Arts program, Ms. Vaz oversaw a global initiative to advance company narratives and business priorities through the commissioning of art and design work for Meta spaces, products, and partnerships. From 2019-23, Open Arts engaged more than 600 visual artists and programmed 13M square feet of physical space. Prior to Meta, Ms. Vaz led communications, marketing, issues management, and brand strategy as Deputy Director of Global Communications for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, supporting the Guggenheim’s international activities and constellation of museums as well as high-profile corporate partnerships and initiatives. Her work in public media included fundraising support for the PBS flagship station WGBH and promotion of the long-running PBS series Scientific American Frontiers. Ms. Vaz is a member of the Board of Directors of the Municipal Art Society of New York, serves on the Advisory Council of the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, and is a past Board member of The World Around. She received a degree in journalism from Boston University.

Wright Harvey is the founder of Sugarlift, a contemporary art gallery and online platform based in New York. Prior to founding the gallery in 2014, Wright earned his double-major in Economics and Studio Art at the University of Virginia. He then spent his first decade in New York working at J.P. Morgan, developing his love for business and entrepreneurship. Wright started Sugarlift with the mission of helping artists create more sustainable careers by making it easier for people to discover and collect their work.

Fanyu Lin is an artist and entrepreneur, working at the intersection of art, technology, architecture and design. An active voice in global dialogues, Lin serves on the Bloomberg New Economy Cities Council to collaborate on a methodical, citizen-centric approach to urbanization, and on the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Connected World, to shape governance and innovation of the internet of things and related technologies in the global public interest. She is also the Chair of the Art & International Committee for the CBS Alumni Club of NY.  Lin graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Columbia Business School’s Executive Program, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

CBSACNY would like to thank Club member and Chair of the Art & International Committee, Fanyu Lin, for organizing this session and several other in-person panel discussions at exciting locations around the city that are planned this year.