East End Arts Names Wendy Weiss as Executive Director

The East End Arts & Humanities Council’s [EEA] Board of Directors unanimously voted to put Creative Director Wendy Weiss in the role of Executive Director on June 17, following former executive director Diane Burke’s resignation.

Burke brought Weiss into the Riverhead-based organization, and the two worked closely together over the last several years.

“Diane has led a significant transformation and financial repositioning at East End Arts. We wish her well in her new position and we have every confidence in the team she built, immediately accepting a transition plan naming Wendy Weiss as our new Executive Director,” notes Board President John McLane.

Weiss has been involved in EEA since March 2020 when she joined the Board and actively participated in efforts to keep the arts council creatively active during the pandemic. One year later, she resigned from the Board to join the EEA team in the role of Membership & Gallery Coordinator and moved into a newly established role of Creative Director later in 2021.

She has facilitated all the major exhibitions in the EEA gallery and the numerous EEA Member satellite gallery spaces, overseen the marketing and membership initiatives, and been a driving force in the small executive staff of the organization.

The East End Arts announcement of her new job points out that “Weiss’ exemplary leadership has allowed her to transition naturally into the role of Executive Director.” During this transition, Burke reached out to a substantial donor who in turn gave the organization $50,000 to fund the transition plan that included putting Weiss in the ED seat while investing in supportive development and marketing staff.

The announcement says Burke and Weiss provide the East End Arts team with confidence that the organization’s trajectory will be managed and cared for with great attention.

“Wendy has significantly engaged the professional working artist community on the East End,” McLane adds. “We cannot be more optimistic about the opportunities in front of East End Arts in the next several years.”

Weiss continues as acting Creative Director in her new role.

Kathleen Dwyer Ruscick and Chris Jones remain on as Education Director and Music Director, respectively, and Melissa Pressler’s role is expanding beyond social media into other marketing responsibilities.

Learn more about the East End Arts & Humanities Council and their commitment to building and enriching the community through the arts by supporting individual and professional artistic development, and encouraging artistic expression through education, exhibition and performance, at eastendarts.org.