About Pioneer Works
Pioneer Works (PW) is an artist and scientist-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural center in Red Hook, Brooklyn that fosters innovative thinking through the visual and performing arts, technology, music, and science.
We provide visual and performing artists, musicians, scientists, technologists, community organizers, and educators the resources and platform they need to expand their practices. Pioneer Works has three floors of interconnected studio, performance, exhibition, and multipurpose spaces, which cultivate collaborations past the boundaries of traditional institutions by placing makers and thinkers in proximity to each other. We support onsite production through our science, design, recording, and ceramics studios; media, virtual environment, and technology labs; darkroom; and garden. Multi-disciplinary programs, exhibitions, residencies, and performances are presented to the public, of which the majority are free.
We encourage lifelong learning through community-based workshops, continuing education classes, and K-12 STEAM programs. We extend beyond our walls with our virtual publication, Pioneer Works Broadcast.
Our approach encourages experimentation and empowers curious minds across diverse communities, knowledge bases, and frames of reference; in so doing, Pioneer Works aims to accelerate culture through the free exchange of ideas and information for all.
Mission
Pioneer Works builds community through the arts and sciences to create an open and curious world.
Vision
Pioneer Works is a new model for cultural organizations that is free, open to all, and transcends disciplinary silos. Our programming explores alternative ways of facing societal challenges by leveraging the arts and sciences dynamically as both a lens and catalyst.
Values
Pioneer Works values curiosity, inclusion, equity, resilience, and community building.
Curiosity
We cultivate inquiry-based learning and nurture an environment for risk-taking, critical thinking, and forging new connections.
Inclusion
We encourage different perspectives and prioritize diversity of gender, race, age, skills, and experiences. We aim to diversify our program, staff, board, and community and are committed to ensuring our physical space is accessible to everybody—regardless of varying mobility and abilities.
Equity
We are committed to amplifying voices of underrepresented educators, collaborators, artists, and program participants who are working in nontraditional ways. Pioneer Works is a W.A.G.E. Certified organization. We believe in pay equity for the creative sectors.
Resilience
We commit to actions that have positive impacts on our environment. We build resilience through maintaining a garden that provides a habitat for local flora and fauna, composting our organic waste, and reusing and recycling materials when possible. Pioneer Works takes a place-based approach to environmental justice and issues that disproportionately affect frontline communities, such as our neighborhood of Red Hook.
Community Building
We engage with our neighbors and celebrate the creative energy of our local communities through partnerships and programs. We center creative voices and value the powerful role that artists, scientists, and culture play in our neighborhoods, both inside and outside the brick and mortar of our building.
History
Pioneer Works was imagined by its founder, artist Dustin Yellin, as a place in which artists, scientists, and thinkers from various backgrounds converge and work together, in real-time; this “museum of process” was inspired by utopian visionaries such as Buckminster Fuller and radical institutions such as Black Mountain College. For both Fuller and the Black Mountain community, learning was a shared and interactive pursuit through which society could model new ways of being. Yellin, together with Gabriel Florenz, Pioneer Works' Founding Artistic Director, and a group of scientists, artists, supporters, and advisors, renovated the historic structure and opened Pioneer Works to the public in 2012. Janna Levin, astrophysicist, author and professor, later joined the team as the center's first Director of Sciences.
The red brick building that houses Pioneer Works was built in 1866 for what was then Pioneer Iron Works. The factory, which manufactured railroad tracks and other large-scale machinery, was a local landmark after which Pioneer Street was named. Devastated by fire in 1881, the building was rebuilt, and remained in active use through World War II. Pioneer Works’ adaptive reuse of the site represents the organization’s commitment to sustainability and the preservation of historic spaces.
The Pioneer Works Capital Campaign
In 2019, Pioneer Works initiated the first Capital Campaign in our history to fund a major renovation centered around critical accessibility upgrades to our 19th-century building, a local landmark first constructed as an ironworks factory. The multiphase campaign launched with an ambitious fundraising goal of $35 million that will enable us to serve a larger and more inclusive creative community. This project is a necessary investment in the future of Pioneer Works and will create a new beacon of scientific and cultural engagement. We look forward to increasing programming opportunities and providing accessible cultural resources to the communities we serve.
Support the Future of Pioneer Works
To support the Capital Campaign and champion our mission to uplift emerging and underrepresented artists, scientists, musicians, and technologists, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution here.
Board
Board of Directors
- Kyra Tirana Barry
- Julia Bator
- David Belt
- Alex Black
- Mary Cunney
- Mark Dalio
- Tiffiney Davis
- Ron Elum
- Austin Hearst
- Stephanie Ingrassia
- Neal Katyal
- Tom X. Lee
- Janna Levin
- Charles Meyer
- Abby Pucker
- Richard Sarnoff
- Cullen L. Sinclair
- Theo Spielberg
- Pedro Torres-Mackie
- Dustin Yellin
- Leyli Zohrenejad
- Alan Siegel, Chairman Emeritus
Advisory Board
- Paola Antonelli
- Darren Aronofsky
- Sunny Bates
- Carol Bove
- David Byrne
- Perry Chen
- Jesse Dylan
- Robert Hammond
- Alanna Heiss
- Paul Hoffman
- Karen Brooks Hopkins
- Marlon James
- Michael Joo
- Ben Lerner
- Kweku Mandela
- Shirin Neshat
- Tom Reiss
- Rick Rubin
- Esperanza Spalding
- Mickalene Thomas
- Justin Vernon
- HRH Princess Eugenie of York
Staff
- Jill Eisenhard
Interim Executive Director - Gabriel Florenz
Founding Artistic Director, Vice President - Janna Levin
Chair & Director of Sciences
- Callum Abbott
Senior Designer - Abdirahman Sahal Hassan Ali
Senior Digital Marketing Coordinator - Lebene Ayivor
K-12 Education Coordinator - Bob Bellerue
Technical Director - Orenna Brand
Associate Web Editor, Broadcast - Vivian Chui
Director of Exhibitions and Special Projects - Jacqueline Coston
K-12 Education Manager - Renee Cuff
Senior Manager, Special Events - Noah D'Orazio
Residencies & Technology Senior Coordinator - Christina Daniels
Director of Residencies and Classes - Jennica Drice
Manager of Visitor Services - Micaela Durand
Associate Director of Publishing - Adrian España
Manager of People & Culture - David Everitt Howe
Senior Arts Editor, Broadcast - Joey Frank
Editor, Pioneer Works Journal - Justin Frye
Director of Music - Teva Fux
Assistant to the Artistic Director - Stephanie Hemshrot
Director of Operations - Joshua Jelly-Schapiro
Director of Publishing - Michael Jones
Head of Content, Broadcast - Danielle Kaminski
Development Coordinator - Daniel Kent
Design Director - Mei Lenehan
Designer - Robin Malcolm
Custodian - Chris Masullo
Producer of Public Programs - Alexander MejĂa
Video Producer - Logan Miley
Associate Technical Director - Miranda Miller
Development Assistant - Darren Monrose
Custodian - Kari Mulholland
Associate Director of Sciences - Darius Jamal Nelson
Program Coordinator - Minh Nguyen
Associate Arts Editor, Broadcast - Charles S. O'Leary
Digital Marketing Manager - Lindsey Pannor
Operations Coordinator - Marisa Prefer
Manager of Sustainability and Environmental Engagement - Ashley Ranich
Director of Marketing & Communications - Laurel Repsha
Associate Director of Partnerships - Sue Roh
Senior Web Developer - Gabe Rubin
Video Editor & Server Administrator - Karina Salamanca
Special Events Assistant - Anthony Seemungal
Custodial Supervisor - Salma Shannon
Music Assistant - Paola Shayman
Associate Producer - Eli Slaydon
Construction & Installations Specialist - Meredith Smith
Science Studios Producer - Ryan Stanton
Custodian - Julian Townley
Head of Installations - Willie Vantapool
Head of Construction
Opportunities
Pioneer Works offers a wide range of positions in an inclusive work environment. We are an equal opportunity employer. Please check back soon for more job opportunities!