The Council is comprised of up to 21 individuals who are appointed by the Governor and approved by the State Senate. Council members are appointed to five-year terms. The Council is currently made up of the following members.

Aby Rosen, Chair

Aby J. Rosen is the co-founder of RFR Holding, a privately held real estate investment development and management firm. His commitment to preservation and restoration of landmark buildings--including the Lever House and the Seagram building--has been recognized by the Landmarks Conservancy, the American Institute of Architecture, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Currently, he serves on the board of the Mies Van Der Rohe Society and the Architectural League of New York. Mr. Rosen formed the Lever House Art Collection in 2003, inviting artists to create site-specific work to be exhibited in this glass-enclosed, highly visible public space. Dedicated to making art accessible and available to those in the community, he organizes photography, sculpture and painting exhibitions in public arenas including the plaza of the Seagram Building and the Gramercy Park Hotel. He has collaborated with the Public Art Fund to produce innovative exhibitions of emerging artists in public spaces. Mr. Rosen earned a law degree from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Vice-Chair

Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel is an author, television interviewer and producer, preservationist, and civic activist. In 1966, Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel became the first Director of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, initiating the first public art exhibition by Tony Smith at Bryant Park and the first public performance in Central Park of the Metropolitan Opera. She also served as a Commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1972 to 1987 and was Chair of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Foundation from 1987 to 1995. She served as a Member of the New York City Cultural Commission and a Member of the New York City Art Commission.

Since 1995, Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel has been the Chair of the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center (HLPC), creating a Cultural Medallion program documenting notable occurrences, distinguished individuals and other important aspects of New York City’s cultural, economic, political and social history. Among other programs, the HLPC initiated, created, designed and financed all of the terra cotta street signs in each of New York City’s Historic Districts. Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel was appointed by President Reagan to the Board of the United States Holocaust Museum in 1987 where she served as Chair of the subcommittee that commissioned all of the original art created for the museum. She was appointed to the United States Commission of Fine Arts in 1992 by President Clinton. In 2002, Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel became the first woman elected Vice Chair of the Commission.

Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel is the author of 19 books and the curator of seven international museum exhibitions, each based on one of her books. A current exhibit based on “The Landmarks of New York,” is being circulated by the U.S. Department of State to 62 countries on each of the five continents. Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Fresh Air Fund, Friends of the High Line, and the New York State Historic Archives Trust, among others. Dr. Diamonstein-Spielvogel earned her doctorate from New York University, and has received honorary doctorates from the Maryland Institute College of Art and Longwood University in Virginia. She was also elected an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects.

Jeff Soref, Vice-Chair

Jeff Soref is the President of Soref Associates, Inc., a private consulting firm located in New York City that specializes in public relations management. Mr. Soref is currently a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and also serves as a Member of the Museum's Visiting Committee for the Department of Asian Art. He has served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and was Co-Chair of the Board’s Government Affairs Committee (2003-2006). Mr. Soref organized Lincoln Center's first salute to Gay Pride benefit as part of New York City's celebration of Gay Pride Week and he is a past Co-Chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Empire State Pride Agenda. He was also President of the Board of Directors of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (1991-1994). Mr Soref is a former member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of the Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association. Mr. Soref received his A.B. from Brandeis University and his Master of Science with distinction in Russian Government from the London School of Economics.

Laura L. Aswad

Laura L. Aswad is the Executive Director of Real Arts and Culture, a New York based company specializing in the performing and visual arts. Previously, she was producer of the Lincoln Center Festival, the international summer performing arts festival, where she produced numerous productions in all genres of the performing arts (1996-2004). Ms. Aswad has also served as associate producer of Lincoln Center’s Serious Fun! Festival (1993-1995), as the tour manager for numerous international and domestic productions, and as the senior associate at International Production Associates where she coordinated domestic and international tours for such artists as Sankai Juku and Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble (1989-1993). She is originally from Binghamton, New York and she received her B.A. in Theater from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Laura L. Ballori

Laura L. Ballori is the Executive Vice-President of Ballori Farre, a New York City based advertising and communications firm.  She is also the New York Correspondent for IMAGEN Magazine, Puerto Rico's leading monthly, where she writes about the arts, as well as cultural and lifestyle issues. Ms. Ballori also serves as both a member of the board and artistic director of The Children Foundation, which helps children with learning disabilities and whose Annual Autumn Gala – a classical music fundraising event – she has produced since 1998. She is also an operatic soprano who has trained at Juilliard, Strasberg and Stella Adler. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Arts in Performance Studies from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Jill Erika Braufman

Jill Erika Braufman is the Board Chair of The Center for Arts Education. Before coming to The Center for Arts Education, Ms. Braufman founded and managed an interior design resource specializing in antique textiles. After managing the business for more than six years, in 2001 she turned her focus towards full-time political and philanthropic pursuits relating to the arts, education, public policy issues and women's health. Jill Braufman is a graduate of Brown University and Parson’s School of Design. 

Carol Enseki

Carol Enseki is currently an independent museum and education consultant.  In 2009, Ms. Enseki stepped down from her position as president of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum where she served for more than 20 years. She led the museum’s efforts to increase educational opportunities for urban children through interactive science and cultural exhibitions and programs, innovative use of collections, and strategic collaborations with both local community organizations and national partners. In 2005, she was appointed to the Accreditation Commission of the American Association of Museums and has been active in the creation of a field-wide Museums and Diversity National Initiative. Ms. Enseki has served on the boards of the American Association of Museums, the Association of Children’s Museums, the Arts & Business Council, Inc., the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Heart of Brooklyn cultural partnership, and the Cultural Institutions Group of New York City. She holds a B.A. from Tufts University and an M.A. in Environmental Design from Beacon College.

Agnes Gund

Agnes Gund is President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art and Chairman of its International Council. She is currently Chairman of the Mayor’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission of New York City. Ms. Gund is Founder and a Trustee of Studio in a School Association, a non-profit organization she established in 1977 in response to budget cuts that virtually eliminated arts classes from New York City public schools. A philanthropist and collector of modern and contemporary art, she has served on the boards of numerous arts organizations, including The Barnes Foundation and The Menil Collection, and currently serves on the boards of Chess in the Schools, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, The Frick Collection, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, and Socrates Sculpture Park, among others. She is an Honorary Trustee of The Cleveland Museum of Art, Independent Curators International and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland. A civic leader who is a staunch supporter of education, women’s issues and environmental concerns, among other causes, Ms. Gund has served on the boards of such wide-ranging organizations as the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Fund for Public Schools. She earned a B.A. in History from Connecticut College and a M.A. in Art History from Harvard University. She has since received numerous honorary doctorate degrees, most recently from CUNY (2007) and the University of Illinois (2002).

Betty Levin

Betty Levin is the president and founder of Corporate Art Directions. She is co-chair of the board of The Jewish Museum, chair of its Development Committee and a sitting member of its Acquisitions and Exhibitions Committees. She is also a board member at the Lincoln Center Institute.  Ms. Levin earned her Bachelor’s degree from Wells College.

Jeffrey H. Lynford

Jeffrey H. Lynford has over 20 years of executive corporate experience as co-founder of Wellsford Strategic Partners LLC. Currently, he holds three gubernatorial appointments as a Commissioner of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a Director of the Trust for Governors Island, as well as a Member of the New York State Council on the Arts. Also he serves as a trustee on the board of two institutions of higher education (NYU and Polytechnic Institute).  Recently he has been asked to serve as the Chairman of the newly-formed International Collage Center, a non-profit research, archival, exhibition, and educational institution dedicated to the study and appreciation of collage and its related forms, including assemblage, photomontage and mixed-media installation.

Mr. Lynford is the grantor of the Lynford Family Charitable Trust, which supports many eleemosynary organizations with domestic and international missions.  The Trust has endowed fellowships at Princeton University, Weil Cornell Medical College, and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. He is an emeritus trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Lower Eastside Tenement Museum and The Citizens Budget Commission, and co-founder of the Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Super-computing at The Polytechnic Institute of NYU. He holds three university degrees, including a law degree from Fordham University and Masters in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. He is married to Tondra Lynford who is a psychotherapist and co-founder of Resources for Children with Special Needs.

Laudelina Martinez

Laudelina Martinez is currently the Owner and Director of the Martinez Gallery. She has owned and directed this art gallery since 2001, focusing on Latino and Latin American art. She has served as curator at more than 40 exhibitions while conducting an on-going public education program in the area of art and culture. She was the President and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities from 1992-1995 where she represented Hispanic-serving institutions, associate colleges and universities, and international members. Ms. Martinez received her B.A. from the College of New Rochelle, her M.A. from Fordham University and conducted additional doctoral coursework the University at Albany.

Richard A. Mittenthal

Richard Mittenthal is President and CEO of TCC Group, a management consulting firm that specializes in the nonprofit sector. Since joining the firm in 1989, he has led consulting and planning assignments for a wide range of cultural, educational, and philanthropic organizations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Altman Foundation, Third Street Music School Settlement, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Children's Defense Fund, the Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Roosevelt Institute.

In 1997, Mittenthal collaborated with the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy to create the Grantmakers Institute, a series of educational courses for foundation staff around the country. In 1999, he served as Senior Advisor to the 93rd American Assembly: Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector in a Changing America. He was a member of the International Network on Strategic Philanthropy, an initiative involving 58 individuals from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and the Council of the Aspen Institute's Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program. In 1982, he served as the first Chairman of Grantmakers in the Arts.

Mittenthal spent 12 years at the New York Community Trust, the largest community foundation in the United States, where he served as the Trust's Vice President for Program, overseeing the discretionary grant program.

Active in civic and cultural affairs, he currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration and Symphony Space, where he was Board President. Mittenthal served as a Mayoral appointee to the New York City Commission on Cultural Affairs, and as a Trustee of Meet the Composer, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Dalton School, the Alliance for the Arts, and The American Symphony Orchestra League. He has a BS in Economics from Roosevelt University in Chicago and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

John Morning has been a graphic designer in Manhattan since 1960, specializing in publications and materials for leading arts, cultural and philanthropic institutions. From 1997-2002 Morning was the Trustee to the City University of New York. He was appointed by Governor Pataki to the 17-member board of the third-largest public system in the country. Mr. Morning was a director of Dime Savings Bank of New York for 23, years which led the way for his future leadership positions. Mr. Morning received his B.A. at Pratt Institute and also attended Wayne State University and Harvard Business School Institute for Arts Administration.

Rita Paniagua

Ms. Paniagua is currently Executive Director of the Spanish Action League and has been involved with the organization since 2003. Prior to working with the Spanish Action League, she was the owner of Backstage Productions in San Juan, Puerto Rico for several years. She has been recognized with numerous awards and honors for leadership in public advocacy and community service. Among her many honors, she has been recognized by the Alliance Network with the Bea Gonzalez Award, Labor Religion Coalition Community Service Award and ACIU Outstanding Community Involvement Award. Currently, Ms. Paniagua is serving on the Latino Upstate Summit Organizing Committee, Boys Scouts of America Syracuse Board, Near West Side Initiative Board, La Casita Cultural Center Board and the Imagine Syracuse Board. Ms. Paniagua attended Virginia Intermont College.

Hal D. Payne

Hal D. Payne is currently the Vice President for Student Affairs at SUNY College at Buffalo where he has served for 20 years. Currently, Payne is on the President’s Executive Council, the College Planning Council, the Budget Priorities Committee, the Enrollment Management Steering Group, the Intercollegiate Athletics Board, and the College Priorities Task Force. Also, Mr. Payne is involved in the U.S. Department of Education/Council for Opportunity in Education Legislation and Regulations Seminars and received The Walter O. Mason Jr. Award (Highest Annual Award of the Council for Opportunity in Education) in September of 1996. Mr. Payne received his B.A. at Western Reserve University and his law degree at Cleveland State University.

Deborah  Ronnen

Deborah Ronnen is an attorney and owner of Deborah Ronnen Fine Art in Rochester, NY, specializing in modern and contemporary art.   As an independent curator, Ms. Ronnen has organized exhibitions in conjunction with the Collector's Gallery at The Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center, at The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester,and at The Nazareth College Arts Center, all in Rochester, NY. Currently, she serves on the board of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. She is  a community activist and a longtime advocate for the upstate cultural community.

She holds an LL.B. ( JD equivalent) from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she was admitted to the Bar and was the Director of The Jerusalem Mediation Center. She also holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Boston University.

Judith O. Rubin

Judith O. Rubin is Chair of Playwrights Horizons and a member of the Tony Awards Administration Committee. She serves on the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission of New York City, the University’s Council Committee on Theater at Yale, and the Board of Overseers of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Ms. Rubin is also a Trustee of Mount Sinai Medical Center and a former Trustee of Public Radio International and the Center for Arts and Culture. She has previously served on the NEA’s National Council on the Arts, on the board of Theatre Communications Group, as Manhattan representative on the Board of Regents of New York State, and as President of the 92^nd Street Y. Ms. Rubin has also served as Commissioner for Protocol under Mayor David Dinkins (1984-1988). She is a graduate of Wellesley College and is listed in Who’s Who of American Women. Judith Rubin was appointed to the council by Governor Mario Cuomo in 1989.

Richard Schwartz

Richard Schwartz is the President of the David Schwartz Foundation and the former CEO and Chairman of Jonathan Logan, Inc. Mr. Schwartz also previously served as acting Executive Director and Member of the New York State Council on the Arts, Chairing the Council from 1997 - 2007. He currently serves as a Trustee of Boscobel Restoration and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. Mr. Schwartz has also served as a Trustee of renowned cultural and educational institutions across the U.S. including Lincoln Center, Cornell University, and the National Museum of American Art.

Jonathan Sheffer

Jonathan Sheffer is a composer and conductor who was the Artistic Director of two iconoclastic chamber orchestras, The Eos Orchestra, which he founded in NYC in 1995, and Red {an orchestra}, which he led for six seasons in Cleveland, OH. In addition he has conducted opera and festivals throughout the world, including The New York City Opera, American Ballet Theatre and numerous dance companies. As a composer, he has composed numerous film scores, and his opera Blood On The Dining Room Floor has won the Richard Rogers Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has had residencies at Yaddo, The MacDowell Colony, and the American Academy in Rome. Active in charitable and political causes, he is on the board of the New York City Opera, and is currently the appointee of the Speaker of the NY City Council to the board of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Danny Simmons

Danny Simmons is the Vice-Chairman and Co-founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, a New York based foundation dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts, as well as providing exhibition opportunities to under-represented artists and artists of color. Mr. Simmons is also the President of the Rush Arts Gallery, Executive Producer of Def Poetry Jam, the owner of the Corridor Gallery, and member of the executive boards of the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He is also an accomplished painter and curator whose work has been shown across the country. Mr. Simmons holds an M.A. in Public Finance from Long Island University and studied social work as undergraduate at New York University.

Dr. Marta Moreno Vega