September 17, 2024
“Together with RU’s current board members, we are thrilled to announce the appointment of five new board members Brian Carlton Byrd, Joanna Gong, Peggy Leboeuf, Kuldeep Singh and Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman. Each brings a unique blend of skills and expertise and we look forward to the future of the organization.“
Pamela Auchincloss, President | Nathalie Anglès, Executive Director
Brian Carlton Byrd is the Founder, President & CEO of New Breed w. New Breed w helps companies maximize the performance of each of its employees through an exclusive, action-oriented platform that easily and systematically recognizes employees with customized rewards. What makes New Breed w different is that it provides a systematic way to monitor activity, measure ROI and ensure success. The company’s formalized process provides a way to track spending, gain insights from the data and augment human capital management strategies. This proven program helps employees feel respected, increase their engagement and achieve value and long-term success for their clients. “Build respect. Improve productivity. Drive profitability.” The three key objectives of New Breed w point to exceptional values Brian brings to the RU board. Prior to founding the company, Brian was an Investment Banker at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in New York City. In the arts, Mr. Byrd serves on the Advisory Board of the Richard Taittinger Gallery on the lower east side in New York City. Brian has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Morehouse College.
Joanna Gong is an arts specialist with a foundation in gemology and cultural diplomacy. Her multifaceted career has taken her from educational roles to auction houses and international exhibitions planning and development. Most recently Joanna was Director of Global Partnerships for the Republic of Benin’s inaugural pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale. She played a pivotal role in leveraging the Biennale for diplomatic soft power and developing Benin’s cultural capital, establishing key alliances with institutions and patrons to promote Beninese artists globally. Previously Joanna was Private Sales Director and Specialist at Sotheby’s where she specialized in gemology and antique jewels while also broadening the scope of Sotheby’s reach to new regions through innovative initiatives that engage new communities. Her work has been recognized and featured in various publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, New York Times and Flaunt Magazine. “My deepest interest in art is finding the common denominators—not to study how ‘unique’ we are, but rather how connected we are.” (article on Flaunt)
Peggy Leboeuf is a Paris-born, New York-based gallerist who began her career with Emmanuel Perrotin in 1996 shortly after studying Arts at La Sorbonne Paris. Peggy was Emmanuel’s second-ever employee. They began operating out of an apartment in Paris on Rue Beaubourg, giving some of the most important contemporary artists of their generation their very first shows, including Takashi Murakami, Maurizio Cattelan, Daniel Arsham and Jean-Michel Othoniel. Together they built a global network of art galleries in Shanghai, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo. Peggy was Director of the Perrotin gallery in Paris. In 2013 Peggy went on to lead the opening of multiple Perrotin Gallery locations throughout New York. Her directorship of the gallery since its inception has been essential to Perrotin’s standing in the international art world.
Kuldeep Singh is an artist based in New York and Seattle whose interdisciplinary practice is strongly influenced by a decade-long training in Indian classical dance of Odissi under the tutelage of Madhavi Mudgal. Kuldeep’s current work reinterprets the historic Ragamala paintings through a queer and ecological lens, weaving together deconstructed elements into a rich tapestry of speculative narratives. Kuldeep holds a BFA in Fine Arts from the College of Art, Delhi University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Residencies include Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Yaddo, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art and Residency Unlimited. He was awarded the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Dance Fellowship and the National Freedom of Expression Award from Mumbai’s Infinity Films. His work has been shown at the Asia Society Museum (NY), Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (New Delhi), Knockdown Center (NY), Gallery Chemould Colab (Mumbai) among others. And forthcoming this year he will be showing at the Brooklyn Museum, and at the National Museum of Norway in Oslo in 2025. Kuldeep has been a visiting critic at NYU and RISD. And presently as an artist/faculty in residence at University of Washington, Seattle.
Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman is a multidisciplinary (quadrilingual) Black, American, Oklahoma native, Muslim raised, lesbian artist. Her art practice consists of creative writing, spoken word poetry performance, narrative painting of BIPOC people and community art projects. She considers herself a Figurative Surrealist Painter and sculptor drawing inspiration from Persian Islamic geometric art, Indian classical art among others. In 2021 she was selected to create a mural at the NYC Health + Hospitals Gotham Health – St. Nicholas as part of the Community Mural Project funded by the Laurie M Tisch Illumination Fund. During her residency at RU, Ibtisam featured new work with Damali Abrams in ‘Our Mothers’ Garden’ at Ace Hotel Brooklyn NY. In the fall of 2023, Zaman showcased her work with APAC (African Peach Arts Coalition), and was awarded by New York Council On The Arts. For 2024, Ibtisam recently completed a residency at WaveHill, a 6 month residency at Atelier Mondial in Basel, Switzerland. Zaman has upcoming exhibitions at the KunstHausBaselland, and a solo exhibition at Brownsville Museum of Fine Art this fall. In 2025, she will be featured in a solo exhibition in Basel, Switzerland.
