Architect, author, and urban designer Gina Pollara, has been appointed President of The Municipal Art Society (MAS). Frederick Iseman, Chairman of the MAS Board of Directors announced that the move will take effect immediately. Pollara is best known for overseeing construction of Louis Kahn’s memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when she was executive director of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. The project was completed in October 2012, although it lay dormant for decades after Kahn’s death in 1974.
“We are deeply pleased to name Gina Pollara our next President after a long and thorough hunt for a suitable leader,” said Iseman. “She is dynamic, our issues run through her veins, she is respected throughout the city as a doer, an entrepreneur, and as a force for the improvement of civic life. She is also known for being effective, exigent, hell-bent on results and a lot of fun to work with. I look forward to working with her on the many challenges that all five boroughs of this city face. She will be a fiery spark-plug working with the capable members of our board.”
“I’m profoundly honored to join The Municipal Art Society, an organization that continues to be one of the most important civic voices in the city that advocates for design and planning excellence. I am particularly excited to be leading MAS as it prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2018,” Pollara said. “I look forward to working with our current partners and to developing new alliances as MAS continues to advance so many of the issues that are vital to the city’s future.”
