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!