NYC Names Bryan Joseph Lee as New Deputy Culture Commissioner
The cultural strategist and producer will work alongside curator and commissioner Diya Vij at the Department of Cultural Affairs.
Cultural strategist Bryan Joseph Lee has been appointed deputy commissioner of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), the agency announced today, August 17.
Lee, who will work alongside DCLA Commissioner Diya Vij, enters the post with extensive experience centering marginalized communities' access to and perspectives in performing arts throughout his career. Through his Harlem-based agency CNTR ARTS, Lee has spent the last five years as a consultant and creative producer for several arts organizations, ranging from the With Love Project and the Ghetto Film School to the Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Arts Council.
The news comes just six weeks after NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani approved $323 million in city funding for cultural affairs for the 2027 fiscal year, marking the largest-ever budget afforded to DCLA.
