Kara Gerson

I’ve been involved with the Wassaic Project from the very beginning, when it was just an idea Eve was telling me about at our potluck dinners in the East Village. I started out on host committees for the early fundraising events, and then Eve and Bowie asked me to join the Board as the organization was being formally incorporated. I’d studied educational disparity in grad school and was running an organization that focused on development for economically and otherwise disenfranchised communities around the world—but had never had the chance to be part of the art world. So their vision of using the arts as an engine to boost the educational, cultural, and economic opportunities of a community while preserving and re-purposing some really interesting buildings appealed to me in so many ways. I signed on.

I’m passionate about having a world-class arts community so close to my hometown. As a native Manhattanite who still lives here now with my children, it’s important to me as a parent and New Yorker to have diverse and rich cultural experiences throughout the region.

And, for as long as I have been able, I have served on charitable boards and committees for an array of causes that are important to me. I’m happy that I can continue to do that with the Wassaic Project. I’m so proud of what we have achieved together so far. It’s a very special organization in a very special place.