MFTA’s executive director steps down after 20 years
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
Harriet Taub is starting a
new chapter. After 20 memorable
years, she stepped down
Friday, July 31, after serving
as Executive Director at Materials
for the Arts (MFTA) and
leading the unique and uberpopular,
yet hidden, Long Island
City-based institution – a
cornerstone of NYC’s rich and
diverse arts and cultural community.
As her last day at MFTA was
approaching, Taub told QNS,
“It is bittersweet for me,” as she
reflected on her beloved organization
and wonderfully artsy,
career. Here, the perhaps, reluctant
retiree tells readers about
her years of passionate dedication
to spreading creative reuse
across Gotham and inspiring
organizations worldwide. She
also addresses some of the current
challenges facing the arts,
and cultural organizations.
Under Taub’s proactive leadership,
the City-run organization
(located in a 35,000 squarefoot
warehouse), has diverted
over 24 million pounds of donations
from the landfill, valued
at over $120 million. During
normal times, these donations
were distributed free of charge
to thousands of artists, educators,
performers, nonprofit arts
organizations, and other members
of NYC’s creative community.
Like Tender Buttons,
a well-known button shop (now
closed) that made news a while
back by donating thousands
of vintage buttons to MFTA,
which has also grown to be the
number one provider of free
materials to the NYC Dept. of
Education.
These days, MFTA’s important
work continues – albeit
with different guidelines – despite
the ongoing pandemic.
“After all these years, I guess
the thing I am most proud of is
the creation of our Education
Center,” Taub said, adding, “It
was a dream I shared with Joy
Suarez, who is now our master
teaching artist. I remember
exactly where we were, on a
street corner in midtown, in
1998, when I said: ‘Wouldn’t it
be great if we could create a program
to train teachers to utilize
the kinds of materials we have
at MFTA? They could then educate
their students and the cycle
of creative reuse would begin.’”
Now, 22 years later, and
through the efforts of many of
her colleagues, Taub is prouder
than ever of the robust, yearround
Education Center, which
boasts student field trips, professional
development workshops
for educators, an art gallery,
an artist-in-residence program,
and many public programs.
“Our program has pivoted
to online programming. Even
field trips! We have a virtual
gallery tour, online professional
development classes. Our next
artist-in-residence may be a bit
delayed, but our current artist
began before the pandemic and
is preparing for his show which
once hung, will be shot on video
and available online. What we
don’t have, is in-person shopping
at our warehouse,” Taub
explained.
She added: “My life and my
identity has been so tied up with
MFTA since 1998 that it will feel
strange to separate from that.
However, I am an advocate for
change within an institution
and I think it will be an exciting
time for the next ED to come in
and put their own stamp on the
program.”
Virtual programs &
exhibits
A tour of the warehouse and
art gallery was videotaped two
days before MFTA’s doors were
shut in March. “With many
staying at home during quarantine,
we wanted to bring MFTA
to you,” Taub said. You can
learn more about creative reuse
and enjoy a self-guided 3-D tour
of the facility.
The Online Education Center
TIMESLEDGER | 2 QNS.COM | AUG. 21-27, 2020
is filled with resources for
projects and lesson plans across
the curriculum.
“We have used both of these
tours in our online Field Trips
for DOE students,” Taub noted,
adding, “Our Third Thursday
Open Studios program, curated
by our Education Director John
Cloud Kaiser, is normally held
at our warehouse with an artist
leading members of the public
in a hands-on project. It went
virtual in April, which actually
opened up the program to
people all over the world and
not just those who could make it
to our LIC facility.”
You can also tour the MFTA
Gallery’s latest exhibition,
“Contemporary Reuse 2020,”
and take a sneak peek into their
artist studio and view works by
MFTA Artist-in-Residence Tijay
Mohammed. The annual exhibit
showcases artists who make
creative reuse a central part of
their practice. This year’s show
also features must-see works by
Cecile Chong, Lars Fisk, Howard
Lerner, Carolina Peñafiel,
and Jason Rohlf.
Lastly, MFTA’s professional
development classes for educators
also went online in April
and have been a tremendous
success, according to Taub, who
noted that this summer’s five
courses were all booked up.
Finding beauty in
everyday objects
On another note, Taub was
eager to share the inspiration
behind her love for creative reuse
. “I grew up with a dad who
was a tinkerer and a maker. He
was self-taught and held a series
of jobs as a florist and warehouse
manager, while I was
growing up. He was also a weekend
drummer,” she recalled.
“I think I inherited his creative
spark, and also his ability
to see the value in everyday materials
and found objects. So, for
over half a century, I have advocated
for making do with what
is around you. At MFTA, we are
a leader in the field of ‘Creative
Reuse,’ and I take great pride
in meeting with and talking
to, people from all around the
world who want to start their
own ‘MFTA-like’ program in
their city.
An activist at heart, Taub
was named a NYC Climate Hero
for her leadership in climate action
this past Earth Day.
And though she lives in Jersey
City, she said she has spent
the last 20 years “commuting to
and loving LIC and Queens.”
Fingers crossed…
Addressing the current challenges
facing MFTA, as well
as the arts and other cultural
organizations, Taub told QNS:
“Look, NYC is the center of the
universe in terms of the arts.
Everyone is looking forward to
our city’s return, but it will look
and feel different. Every day,
people are making plans and
talking to the experts on what
that reopening looks like.”
She continued: “We all understand
that funding is key
to the eventual reopening of
our arts institutions, large and
small. While the budget at the
Dept. of Cultural Affairs has
been reduced, we are lucky that
our funding at MFTA is steady.
For us, MFTA has been the goto
place for thousands of arts
nonprofits for four decades. The
grass roots and small groups
who have flourished in communities
across the five boroughs,
have been hit especially hard
over the last four months. Our
job is to be a resource and help
provide them with materials, so
they can create programs – online,
or socially distanced – to
support their constituents.
“When we get the word from
City Hall that we can reopen,
with all the safeguards in place
for our staff and members, we
are raring to do that,” she added.
While MFTA has been closed
these last few months, Taub
said several staff members, especially
Deputy Director Tara
Sansone (who became the Interim/
Acting Exec. Dir.), “have
gone above and beyond to help
our members who were making
PPE for essential workers.”
And recently, MFTA gathered
arts materials for delivery to
some of the DOE’s Regional Enrichment
Centers in the Bronx
and Queens, which are the sites
where children of essential
workers have been cared for
since mid-March.
“Early on, we identified
needs and tried to help fill them
with our own brand of ‘get it
doneness’ that we are known
for,” Taub proudly noted. “All
of the work that has been done
while we have been officially
closed has been especially rewarding.
I am grateful to the
MFTA team members who
answered the call and helped
those in need during this very
trying time.”
She added: “The arts bring
people together. It is essential
for us to have the arts in our
lives and I have no doubt that
NYC and the arts community
will rebound. It may take some
time and we will continue to
wear masks but … we will be
back!”
Shopping, donation dropoffs,
and public events at MFTA
have been cancelled until further
notice, due to the pandemic.
Information about reopening
will be posted as soon as it
becomes available. Please check
Materials for the Arts website
for the latest updates.
Harriet Taub Photo by Sarah Shatz
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