New York City Design Organizations Launch the Public Design Alliance
An evolving network of the city’s cultural nonprofits seeks to expand opportunities for shared resources and collective impact
June 25, 2025, New York, NY – In response to shifting national pressures and increasing challenges, a coalition of public design organizations based in New York City has joined forces to form the Public Design Alliance. For decades, the leaders of these organizations have found informal ways to stay connected through public and private meetings, shared programs, and joint initiatives, resulting in a sustained yet fluctuating cooperation. Past collaborations—ranging from co-curated exhibitions and charrettes to tool launches and community programs—demonstrate the strong network and shared values among the city’s architecture and design institutions. Whether focusing on public space activation, emerging design professionals, or cross-disciplinary dialogue, these organizations have consistently worked together to elevate design’s role in the city.
Amid the rise of recent unprecedented federal challenges and pressures on civil society, including the widespread loss of public funding and the stigmatization of DEI values, these peer institutions agree that a more structured platform for partnership will strengthen their collective impact.
Mission and Purpose
The Public Design Alliance is born out of a need for deeper engagement, shared resources, and collective action. This growing network aims to be responsive, aims to foster collaboration and solidarity across the city’s design sector, responding to an increasing call for cooperation in uncertain times. Knowing that goals will evolve as the group grows and changes, its current priorities include:
● Knowledge Sharing: Building a robust shared knowledge base across organizations
● Program Collaboration: Coordinating efforts to create and implement impactful public design programming
● Community and Audience Building: Expanding outreach to foster diverse community engagement and support
● Message Amplification: Promoting individual and collective voices on key public design issues in local and national media
The establishment of this network is intended to build trust and model solidarity between organizations, prioritizing opportunities to make the design community stronger, more visible, and better connected.
Tizziana Baldenebro, Executive Director, Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) said: “Design is never neutral; it is a reflection of our values and priorities. Building bonds across organizations that reinforce intersectional values makes us stronger. The Public Design Alliance comes at a critical time when equity in the public realm must be fiercely protected. BWAF has long been an instigator in this effort and we stand arm in arm with our peers.”
Keri Butler, Interim President, Municipal Art Society of New York said: “As the federal government slashes funding for nonprofits across the country, it is a critical time for our organizations to come together and share resources so that we can continue to serve our communities. MAS’s work helps residents have a voice in the decisions that shape the future of their neighborhoods. Our programs bring together New Yorkers to celebrate design and culture, building social cohesion and boosting local businesses. Through this alliance, there is an opportunity to raise awareness about the impact these short-sighted federal cuts will have not only on our organizations but on the public and our city’s economy.”
Matthew Clarke, Executive Director, Design Trust for Public Space said: “Thirty years ago, the Design Trust for Public Space was founded on the principle that the public realm needed a more collaborative model across community groups, government agencies, nonprofits, and private-sector experts to reach its full potential. We are proud to be forming the Public Design Alliance and through solidarity in uncertain times, strengthen[ing] our impacts on New York City’s quality of life.”
Hayley Eber, Executive Director, Van Alen Institute said: “It’s clear we’re facing unprecedented challenges, making the Public Design Alliance a critical platform for collective action. Van Alen Institute is excited to collaborate with our peers, allowing us to unify our efforts and amplify our shared commitment to a more just and resilient public realm.”
José Esparza Chong Cuy, Executive Director and Chief Curator, Storefront for Art and Architecture said: “At Storefront, we believe that public life is not a given—it is continuously shaped through acts of imagination, resistance, and solidarity. The Public Design Alliance reflects our long-standing commitment to collective work that expands the role of art and architecture in civic life. In a moment when collaboration is not only urgent but necessary, this alliance strengthens our shared capacity to imagine new forms of public culture.”
Janet Fink, Executive Director, Institute for Public Architecture (IPA) said: “As a collective of design-focused non-profit organizations with shared values and similar approaches to improving the quality of life in the public realm, we are stronger together. The IPA is delighted to be part of this exciting moment and we look forward to continued and future collaborations with our partners!”
Pilar Finuccio, Executive Director, Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) said: “At the core of CUP’s work is a belief and knowledge that, through values-aligned collaboration, we are able to best express and deepen our values. I’m eager to work with this group of leaders to develop a shared understanding of how we might sustain and strengthen the resources, capacity, and relationships we have. It’s in times of uncertainty and grief that we often see more clearly what room we still have to be our best with and for each other, as peers, to care for the people and communities that brought us to our work in the first place.
Kristin LaBuz, Executive Director, Open House New York (OHNY) said: “While Washington slashes funding for arts and culture, New York nonprofit leaders know that resilience is rooted in collaboration. Open House New York is proud to be part of the Public Design Alliance, deepening relationships with our colleagues in ways that amplify our respective missions and strengthen the civic fabric of our city.”
Jesse Lazar, Assoc. AIA, Executive Director of AIA New York and the Center for Architecture said: “The challenges facing our cities—climate resilience, housing equity, public trust—are too complex for any one organization to tackle alone. More than ever, the political and economic moment we are in demands deeper collaboration, connectivity and solidarity. It’s a privilege to work together with colleagues at such important and innovative organizations to strengthen one another and advance our shared values, and we look forward to expanding this group in the future.”
Daniel McPhee, Executive Director, Urban Design Forum said: “It has been my pleasure to collaborate with the leaders of these organizations for years and I’m glad to formalize our long partnership. Each of these organizations champion a better New York in its own way, and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together.”
Jacob R. Moore, Executive Director, Architectural League of New York said: “Recognizing the persistent and unique nature of the challenges in front of us, The Architectural League of NY is excited to contribute to a strengthening of the bonds between organizations for whom, in the past, competition has sometimes overrode collaboration. Anchored in shared values, we needn’t know the precise shape of the projects we might take on to know that there is more we can do together than apart in these uncertain times.”
Ilene Shaw, Executive Director, NYCxDESIGN, said: ”As a citywide initiative that unites all design disciplines—from architecture and landscape architecture to industrial and product, graphic, interior, and experience design—NYCxDESIGN is committed to support the Public Design Alliance. In times of uncertainty, design must be more visible, more valued, and more powerfully communicated. We aim to amplify the collective message that design is not a luxury—it is vital infrastructure for civic life, equity, and economic resilience. By joining this alliance, we hope to strengthen public understanding and appreciation of the role design plays in shaping a better, more inclusive future for all New Yorkers and beyond, particularly through times of challenge.”
Gregory Wessner, Executive Director, National Academy of Design said: “As an organization founded by visual artists and architects, the National Academy has long recognized that collaboration is not just a strategy–it is a necessity. With cultural organizations under threat and funding being indiscriminately cut, the Public Design Alliance is a step towards working collectively to advocate for the importance of cultural organizations in sustaining and protecting civil society.”
Founding Organizations (list as of June 25, 2025):
AIA New York
Architectural League of New York
Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation
Center for Architecture
Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)
Design Trust for Public Space
Institute for Public Architecture
Municipal Art Society of New York
National Academy of Design
NYCxDESIGN
Open House New York
Storefront for Art and Architecture
Urban Design Forum
Van Alen Institute
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