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Press Coverage

Published on October 29, 2021 for UrbanGlass

Meet Our New Board Members!

Board Members 3
UrbanGlass Announces Addition of Three New Members to the Board of Directors  
Brooklyn, NY—UrbanGlass announces the addition of three new Board Members: Vinay Adenwala, Rob Cantave, and Olivia Moss. The new members join the board under the leadership of Executive Director Devin Mathis who came to UrbanGlass in January 2019. The addition of Adenwala, Cantave and Moss brings the total number of board members to 29.

Through 44 years of growth and transformation, UrbanGlass remains the only institution of its kind in New York’s five boroughs devoted to glass and its creative uses. This fall, UrbanGlass has relaunched multiple programs closed in 2020 by Covid-19 pandemic including its fellowships, in-person classes, and the Bead Project, a free program for low-income women in the New York area seeking a creative outlet and an education in entrepreneurship.

 “We are very excited to welcome the new members,” said Katya Heller, Chair of the Board of Directors of UrbanGlass. “Continuing to diversify our board is a priority for our organization. These young members bring a range of expertise that will add fresh perspectives to UrbanGlass as we continue to make sure we have a wide range of voices on all levels.”
Vinay Adenwala is Vice President of Operations at Sciame Construction, LLC, where he coordinates strategic and operational initiatives for the firm. While having since moved away from the project management side of the business, one of Vinay’s first Sciame projects was the build-out of the Agnes Varis Art Center and UrbanGlass’ 3rd floor studio spaces. From his experience working with the UrbanGlass team, Vinay was invited to join UrbanGlass’ Real Estate Advisory Committee, where he has served as a member since 2014.  Prior to Sciame, Vinay worked in finance and investment banking and holds an MS in Real Estate Development from Columbia University and an MBA from London Business School.  
Rob Cantave's work and interests focus on the intersection of technology with the individual. Inspired by dystopic films, science fiction, and DIY musical genres, Cantave grew up embracing technology for its ability to enable expression and connection, and for its capacity to break down barriers. His professional work as a technologist, consultant, and digital marketer has given him a unique perspective on organizations undergoing transformative change. Cantave holds an MBA from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics from George Mason University. He has worked as a digital marketing consultant for over ten years for Adobe, Epsilon, and Virtusa, providing services to Fortune 100 clients including Marriott International, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and Barclays Bank. Prior to this, he worked for ten years as a web developer and database administrator. Cantave makes dance music under the moniker "Distant Comets" and will be releasing his first three singles during the summer and fall of 2021 with Micro Vision Recordings.  
Olivia Moss is a Principal with HR&A Advisors, a real estate, economic development, and public policy consulting firm headquartered in Tribeca. Olivia’s work focuses on helping public and private sector clients navigate complex land use policy changes, planning processes, and real estate transactions to realize their goals. She is currently advising the Battery Park City Authority on its real estate and planning needs, working on behalf of a group of local developers in Brooklyn, and studying the potential to repeal exclusionary zoning policies and introduce new affordable housing policies in Gainesville, Florida, amongst other work.  A member of the UrbanGlass Real Estate Committee since 2014, Olivia has been supporting the organization’s efforts to track neighborhood development activity, connect with the local development community, and create and implement a tool and tracking system for future capital needs. Originally introduced to UrbanGlass by her family (Katya and Douglas Heller), Olivia is thrilled to support UrbanGlass directly now and brings her professional experience and her personal passion for glass as a medium as well as for the organization’s work to her new role.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with Honors from the University of Washington and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Olivia is also Vice Chair of the ULI NY Technical Assistance Panels Steering Committee, a member of the Association for a Better New York’s Young Professionals Steering Committee, a fellow with the Urban Design Forum, and was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in the spring of 2021.  
"Our new board members each have unique expertise and passion for UrbanGlass' mission that I know will be invaluable as we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, “ said Devin Mathis. “I am excited for what the future holds and look forward to working with the entire board as we continue to cultivate relationships within our local community to achieve our long-term strategic goals of creating access to glass as a creative medium in the fields of contemporary art and design."

UrbanGlass’ mission is to foster experimentation and advances the use and critical understanding of glass as a creative medium.
Founded in 1977, UrbanGlass was the first artist-access glass center in the United States and is now the largest with 17,000 square feet of state-of-the-art studio space.   

The glass studios and art center serve over 25,000 professional artists, designers and students annually seeking to learn about the possibilities of glass. urbanglass.org.