Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has named Dena Beard, M.A., the new Executive Director of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), and Arts Consulting Group (ACG) extends its congratulations on her leadership appointment. She will begin her tenure on October 31, 2024.
The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is where the arts, sciences, and technology meet under one roof and breathe the same air. Four exceptional venues enable audiences, artists, and researchers to inquire, experiment, develop, and experience the ever-changing relationship between our senses, technology, and the worlds we create around us. EMPAC is an icon of the New Polytechnic, a new paradigm for cross-disciplinary research and education at Rensselaer.
Recognized for her distinguished perspective and approach in the experimental media and performing arts fields, Beard joins RPI from Brooklyn College, where she was Director of the iconic Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of The Lab, the cultural landmark in San Francisco for experimental and avant-garde music.
Beard will guide and deliver on the mission of EMPAC as a world-class, unique performance and research center where the arts, science, and technology intersect, and a welcoming and inclusive environment for faculty, staff, students, and the community. A seasoned arts leader and curator, Beard has a long history of working with artists to create groundbreaking and socially relevant projects. Many of these explore the nexus of art, performance, and social justice. Artists she has worked with include: Lutz Bacher, Sadie Barnette, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Ellen Fullman, Dora García, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork, Anna Halprin, Asher Hartman, Annea Lockwood, Barry McGee, Silke Otto-Knapp, Brontez Purnell, Wadada Leo Smith, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
ACG is the leading provider of hands-on interim management, executive search, revenue enhancement, strategic planning & community engagement, and facilities & program planning and research services for the arts and culture industry. ACG consultants are located in communities across the United States and Canada to best serve the needs of our clients. ACG team members have decades of combined senior leadership experience in every artistic and cultural discipline and area of functional management expertise.