• Peter Mays, Executive Director
• Nancy Kaye, Program Manager
• Jade Dumon, Gallery Associate
 

Peter Mays
Executive Director

Peter Mays is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA) and its premiere La Cienega exhibition space Gallery 825. Mays believes LAAA is now poised to launch the next phase of the 86-year-old organization's expansion and commitment to Los Angeles' emerging artists. Since joining LAAA in June 2005, Peter has implemented cultural exchanges with Korea, Germany and China, initiated collaborative programming with institutions like Harvard, MoCA and Otis, as well as with artists Tim Hawkinson and Lita Albuquerque, secured the very best curators to jury LAAA exhibitions, increased LAAA's career development programs and direct services by 30% and created LAAA's public art program which was selected as one of the top public art works completed in 2010 by Americans for the Arts.

Beyond his commitments at LAAA, Mays has curated exhibitions throughout Southern California for various arts, educational and civic agencies. Mays was recently honored at the LA Art Show with the Art to Life award sponsored by Art & Living Magazine, Sotheby's International Realty and A&I for his work on behalf of emerging artists and emerging artists communities. As chairperson of the West Hollywood Arts and Culture Commission and its Art on the Outside public art effort, Peter leads the city's nationally regarded outdoor public art programming which has been praised in Art Forum and the New York Times. Peter helped to launch the region-wide LA Arts Month effort from 2009-2011 where he served on Planning Committee and the Program Committee. He also serves on LAUSD's National Study Group which is charged with informing the nation's second largest district as it plans the next 10 years of K-12 Arts Education. Peter has co-chaired the Education Committee for the Board of Directors for the MOCA Contemporaries and he remains an active member of many other arts leadership groups including the Fellows of Contemporary Art and the Executive Arts Leaders Forum.

Prior to his appointment to LAAA, Mays served as the Director of Development and Supplementary Educational Services for the Galef Institute, a Los Angeles based educational non-profit organization. At the Tierra del Sol Foundation in Sunland, California, Peter oversaw an expansive arts program that served the needs of hundreds of developmentally disabled adults. Other relevant experience includes: Chairman of Steering Committee, Community Technology and Discovery Center, Los Angeles; writer, Digital Arts for Young Adults online curriculum; Gallery Director, Clark Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and contributing writer and art critic, Pittsburgh Buzz. Peter has an MFA and is also an experienced curator, painter, printmaker, book illustrator and graphic designer whose artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums.

 

Nancy Kaye
Program Manager

After owning and operating one of the first specialty clothing online retail operations which later expanded into a chain of retail clothing stores, Nancy Kaye turned her attentions to her love of contemporary art and her desire to support local emerging artists. For four years, Nancy helped to operate and manage the Art Rental & Sales Gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, introducing artists to collectors & the general public, as well as organizing many exhibitions by emerging Southern California artists. Nancy now looks forward to bringing her exhibition experience, operational skills and devotion to local artists to LAAA.

 

Jade Dumon
Program Manager

Jade Dumon is near completion toward her BA in Art History from UCLA. Her past curriculum includes courses in Modern Art, European Art of the 19th Century, Greco-Roman Painting and Art of Southeast Asia. She has interned as a reporter with UCLA Radio News, and as a web content contributor with LAXArtscene. In addition to her role as Gallery Associate at Los Angeles Art Association, Jade assists at William Turner Gallery in Bergamot Station.