Former North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman is succeeding Michael Glickman as president of the Gold Coast Arts Center, the institution’s founder and executive director said in an email last week.
Kaiman and Glickman served as co-presidents for a year as part of a transition.
Glickman, who is also president and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which is New York’s Holocaust museum, had served on the board of the Gold Coast Arts Center’s executive board for 12 years, five of them as president. He will remain on the board, but not as president.
Glickman said that his first experience with the Gold Coast Arts Center was when his two young children were enrolled in classes there. He then joined the center’s board in 2007 and has been on its board since.
In staying on the board, he said he hopes to continue advocating for the institution, which he described as “an untapped resource” for much of the community.
“I want to make sure that they continue to get the exposure and support they need to support the incredible job they are doing every single day,” Glickman said. “They are a unique institution.”
Regina Gil, the executive director and founder of the Gold Coast Arts Center, said in an email to the staff that Glickman should be praised for his work with the center.
“He deserves all of our thanks for stepping up when he did and I hope that we will acknowledge that at our next big board meeting,” Gil wrote. “He has truly made a significant difference in the way we are perceived and in the professional standards to which we adhere.”
Gil also said that Kaiman, who currently works as deputy county executive in Suffolk County, agreed to take on the position of president.
She said that without his decision to have North Hempstead enter a partnership with the Gold Coast Arts Center, “we would still be struggling to raise the $100,000+” the center needed just to stay afloat.
“His commitment to the Arts Center and to the cultural arts is of longstanding; he has observed, understands and appreciates the contribution we make to the Town of North Hempstead and to the greater region beyond,” Gil said via email.
Kaiman could not be reached for comment.
