BY THE VILLAGE SUN David Doty has been unanimously reelected president of the National Art Club’s board of governors.
A member of the Gramercy Park South club since 2006, Doty began his first term in May 2022. Since then, the N.A.C. welcomed 30,000 members of the public for art exhibits, lectures and theatrical, musical and dance performances. Membership also increased by 20 percent during the year, bringing more energy to the club and its volunteer committees that produce its calendar of events.
Doty has led an effort to invigorate the club’s mission of educating the public on the arts, as well as to renovate and preserve the historic Tilden Mansion. Housing the club since 1906, the Tilden Mansion includes two 1845 town houses given a singular facade by Calvert Vaux in the 1880s, in the Aesthetic Movement style.
Last month, the New York State Council on the Arts awarded a capital grant to the N.A.C. of more than $1 million to preserve and repair the building’s facade of brownstone and granite and ornamental detail. This follows a capital grant, for the same purpose, that the N.A.C. received in 2022 for $600,000 from the New York City Parks Department.
In addition, to mark the club’s 125th anniversary, a series of educational, artistic and entertaining events will recall the club’s past and look to its future, including a fundraising gala this fall on Oct. 12. Doty, the board and members envision a campaign to meet the grants’ matching requirements — bringing the total to $3.24 million — all to be used to rejuvenate the landmark.
“For 125 years the National Arts Club has been devoted to bringing the arts to the public at large, and free of charge, and I am honored to advance its remarkable history and deliver on its mission to inform and inspire,” Doty said. “Now that New York State and New York City have joined our generous corporate and individual partners, we can give the front of the magnificent Tilden Mansion on Gramercy Park the renovation that it deserves, so it can continue to serve as a vibrant hub for art and culture, for this and future generations. I am confident that we will be able to ensure that the National Arts Club will be an even-more important institution championing the arts and letters for the next 125 years.”
Doty is an expert in digital marketing and also in French arts, architecture and culture, on which he has frequently lectured in both English and French. A writer for top magazines, he was Tom Wolfe’s research assistant for Wolfe’s seminal book on modern architecture, “From Bauhaus to Our House.”
Doty is the recipient of the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, conferred by President Jacques Chirac of France. He holds a master’s of art from the University of Michigan and lives in the Flatiron District and in Wainscott.
How is our House (yours) of course. How are you.