Works & Process at the Guggenheim Announces New Board Members Virginia Johnson and Isaac Mizrahi

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, announces two new board members, Virginia Johnson and Isaac Mizrahi.

“Works & Process at the Guggenheim has evolved greatly over this past year, and the Board of Directors is excited to welcome two brilliant new board members as we usher in a new era of programming,” said Caroline Cronson, producer of Works & Process at the Guggenheim. “Virginia Johnson is a prolific member of the dance community, and Isaac Mizrahi is a live entertainment savant, and both will make superlative additions to our leadership.” 

About Virginia Johnson
A founding member of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Virginia Johnson was one of its principal ballerinas over a career that spanned nearly 30 years. After retiring in 1997, Ms. Johnson went on to found Pointe Magazine and was editor-in chief for 10 years. A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Johnson began her training with Therrell Smith. She studied with Mary Day at the Washington School of Ballet and graduated from the Academy of the Washington School of Ballet. She went on to be a University Scholar in the School of the Arts at New York University before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem. Virginia Johnson is universally recognized as one of the great ballerinas of her generation and is perhaps best known for her performances in the ballets Giselle, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Fall River Legend. She has received such honors as a Young Achiever Award from the National Council of Women, Outstanding Young Woman of America Award, the Dance Magazine Award, a Pen and Brush Achievement Award, the Washington Performing Arts Society’s 2008-2009 Pola Nirenska Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2009 Martha Hill Fund Mid-Career Award.

About Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as an actor, host, writer, designer and producer for over 30 years. He is the subject and co-creator of Unzipped, a documentary following the making of his Fall 1994 collection which received an award at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted his own television talk show The Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years, has written two books, and has made countless appearances in movies and on television. He currently serves as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars. He is Chief Designer for the Isaac Mizrahi brands, a division of Xcel Brands, Inc. In 2009, Mizrahi launched his lifestyle collection, “ISAACMIZRAHILIVE!” on QVC. His IMNYC collection is currently sold at Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay Company. Mizrahi has directed productions of A Little Night Music and The Magic Flute for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Annually, he directs and narrates his production of the children’s classic Peter and The Wolf at Works & Process at The Guggenheim Museum in New York. He has performed cabaret at Café Carlyle, Joe’s Pub, West Bank Café and City Winery locations across the country Mizrahi has his own production company, Isaac Mizrahi Entertainment, under which he has several projects in development in television, theatre and literature. His memoir, I.M., was published in February 2019.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim 
Described by The New York Times as “an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process,” for over 35 years, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Most performances take place in the Guggenheim’s intimate Frank Lloyd Wright–designed 273-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. In 2017, Works & Process established a new residency and commissioning program, inviting artists to create new works, made in and for the iconic Guggenheim rotunda. In March 2020, Works & Process Artists (WPA) Virtual Commissions was created to financially support artists and nurture their creative process during the pandemic and was described by The New York Times as “one of the most powerful artistic responses yet to the Covid-19 crisis.” To forge a path for artists to safely gather, create, and perform during the pandemic, in summer 2020, Works & Process pioneered and produced a series of bubble residencies that were captured in the docuseries Isolation to Creation that can be streamed for free on allarts.org. The bubble residencies will continue into 2021. On March 20, 2021 Works & Process was the first to reopen live indoor in-person performances, in the Guggenheim rotunda. worksandprocess.org. Lead funding for Works & Process is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Evelyn Sharp Foundation, and the Geraldine Stutz Trust, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Works & Process has received support from the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program and NYC Employee Retention Grant Program.