Join us in welcoming Diya Vij to The LP fam! Diya recently joined our board of directors—read our short Q&A to get to know her!
The LP: What attracted you to The LP and excited you most about joining the board?
Diya Vij: The LP is a model for all arts organizations who wish to invest in POC futures and lead with community-first values. Through the Create Change residency and fellowship as well as a breadth of special initiatives, The LP has been an incredible resource for artists to work locally and politically towards community change. I’ve personally worked with many LP alums and have benefited from The LP’s thought leadership in so many ways. I’m most excited to help usher The LP into a new phase, with a new building and growing support for this important work.
LP: Can you tell us about a project/event/moment that was a particular highlight of your personal/professional work?
Diya: One of the first projects I ever worked on in my art career was Immigrant Movement International, initiated by artist Tania Bruguera, with the Queens Museum and Creative Time in 2010. Established for the new immigrant community of Corona, Queens, it was part think tank, part community center, part political organizing hub, part art studio. Over the four years I worked at the Queens Museum, I was able to witness a long-term, artist-led, socially engaged art project first hand. I learned so much about the potential for art to build political power, create life-sustaining relationships, and ultimately enact community change. Those lessons have become the driving force of my work.
LP: What’s your favorite home-cooked dish?
Diya: Yellow daal is my go-to comfort food. It’s so simple: yellow split pea lentils, ginger, tumeric, some spices, some spinach. I make it like my mom makes it, like my Nani made it. Enough to feed the whole house for days and whoever might drop by.
Diya Vij is the Associate Curator at Creative Time and is committed to critically investigating the evolving role of public art in politics and civic life. Over the past decade, she has held programming, curatorial, and communications positions at the High Line, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), and the Queens Museum. As the Associate Curator of Public Programs at the High Line, she organized dozens of live events and performances with artists, activists, practitioners, and healers. At DCLA, Vij launched and co-directed the Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) program. Additionally, she was a project lead for the Agency’s citywide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative, and played an active role in public monument efforts, as well as CreateNYC—New York City’s first cultural plan. She was a curatorial fellow and the communications manager at the Queens Museum from 2010–2014.