The board of directors of Southampton Arts Center has announced that Tom Dunn, executive director since 2018, will step down from his position on July 31. Dunn will be taking a leadership position in a performing arts space.
During Dunn’s tenure, SAC experienced a period of significant growth. It has emerged from the pandemic stronger by developing new artistic and programmatic partnerships, strengthening community engagement, expanding outdoor activations, and making important investments to enhance its historic landscape.
SAC undertook artistic collaborations with National Geographic, International Center of Photography, New York Academy of Art, Beyond the Streets, Hamptons Doc Fest, Hamptons Jazz Fest, and the Peter Marino Art Foundation, among dozens of other local and national cultural organizations. Recently, SAC hosted and presented an art exhibition featuring exclusively Shinnecock and Indigenous artists, curated by Jeremy Dennis, on ancestral Shinnecock land.
“It is with immense gratitude and pride that I will move on from Southampton Arts Center after what we as an organization have been able to achieve with and for this incredible community,” Dunn shared. “From Nat Geo’s important and timely Photo Ark, to the vibrant Beyond the Streets on Paper, to the historic Outcropping, together, we have grown as an institution that offers diverse, impactful, world-class exhibitions and programs.”
SAC will move forward with key management added in the last few years, including Joe Diamond, general manager and Diana Torres, business manager. SAC’s board of directors has engaged Harris Rand Lusk, an executive search firm, to conduct a national search for a new executive director.
“We want to thank Tom for all his contributions to SAC,” said Simone Levinson, Founding co-chair of SAC, “We look forward building on the foundation that the board has created with Tom and his team.”