Studio in a School NYC Names New President

Studio in a School NYC has named arts educator Alison Scott-Williams as its new President, Board Chair Vivian Pan announced.

Studio NYC is one of two organizations under the aegis of the Studio in a School Association, Inc. Studio NYC provides quality arts education and programs to more than 32,000 PreK-12 students in New York City public schools each year. “We are delighted to have an ardent arts educator of Alison’s caliber lead Studio NYC,” said Dr. Pan. Ms. Scott-Williams will assume her position on March 9.

Agnes Gund, founder of Studio in a School Association, President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art and current Chair of MoMA PS1, said, “Alison Scott-Williams’s record of leadership in arts education, her passion for diversity and insistence on building emotional intelligence, and her proven ability to bridge arts, educational and government institutions makes her the perfect person to lead Studio NYC.”

Thomas Cahill, President of Studio Institute said, “I’m delighted Alison is joining the Studio family.  She is the right person to lead Studio NYC in 2020 – she brings a passion for arts education, as well as extensive partnership experience to realize programs and expand offerings for NYC public school children.”

Ms. Scott-Williams joins Studio NYC from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), where she has been the Vice President for Arts Education since 2015. At NJPAC, Scott-Williams provided strategy, administration and program leadership in arts education. Earlier, she was Associate Vice President for Diversity and Campus Life at The Juilliard School in New York City, where she served in a variety administrative positions for more than 14 years.

John Schreiber, CEO of NJPAC, speaking of Ms. Scott-Williams’s departure, said “Alison’s work at NJPAC has been transformative: She’s launched initiatives that brought the Arts Center’s programs to more children at more schools across the state, and has been essential to our focus on creating programs that let students be the authors and creators of their own works of art. We’re enormously proud of her, we will miss her terribly–and we know she will do amazing things at Studio in a School NYC.”

Ms. Scott-Williams holds advanced degrees in voice performance and opera theatre from the Manhattan School of Music and Oberlin Conservatory, as well as a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from Baruch College.