Diya Vij Appointed NYC Cultural Affairs Czar

Photo: Instagram

India-West News Desk

NEW YORK, NY – Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has appointed Diya Vij as commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the nation’s largest municipal funder of arts and culture. She is the first South Asian to hold the position.

Vij,40, will lead the agency’s efforts to support artists and cultural organizations across New York City while advancing the administration’s focus on affordability in the arts sector.

 “She has worked to weave culture into the fabric of public life. This administration believes art is a public good, not a luxury reserved for the few. Under her leadership, we will fight to keep New York a city where artists can afford to live and create — and where every New Yorker, in every borough, can experience the energy and inspiration that art makes possible,” Mamdani said in a statement.

“This administration has renewed my belief that city government can be a site of real change — and that art and culture are essential to that project,” Vij said. “Too many artists have been forced out of the city they love — crushed by the cost-of-living crisis. As Commissioner, I will extend the Mayor’s affordability agenda to arts and culture.”

Vij previously worked at the Department of Cultural Affairs during the administration of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, where she led special projects and co-directed the Public Artists in Residence program, which embeds artists within city agencies to integrate art into civic life. Artists including Tania Bruguera, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Onyedika Chuke and Ebony Noelle Golden participated in the initiative.

Most recently, Vij served as a curator at Creative Time, where she organized large-scale public art projects in partnership with city and state agencies, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city’s Parks Department and the Department of Transportation. One project, If you hear something, free something by Chloë Bass, broadcast artwork through the subway public address system.

Vij has also held leadership roles across several New York cultural institutions. She served as vice president of curatorial and arts programs at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn and previously worked at the Queens Museum and the The High Line.