Recognized for tireless work creating world-class arts organizations.
New York, NY – January 27, 2016 – Venable LLP announced today that New York real estate partner Gordon J. Davis has been named one of the 30 Founding Legends of Lincoln Center. Mr. Davis will be included in the inaugural class of the Legends at Lincoln Center: The Performing Arts Hall of Fame.
Legends at Lincoln Center will be the first hall of fame that honors the artists, leaders, and advocates whose exceptional creativity and tenacity have shaped, and continue to shape, the performing arts at Lincoln Center. The Founding Legends were selected exclusively by Lincoln Center and its resident organizations to acknowledge the visionaries who have worked tirelessly to create world-class arts organizations and a destination that is now visited by over five million people each year.
In addition to Mr. Davis, some of the selected Founding Legends include choreographer George Balanchine, longtime music director of the Metropolitan Opera James Levine, legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, III, who was instrumental in Lincoln Center’s creation, former Congressman and New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay, and musician Wynton Marsalis.
For over three decades the hallmark of Mr. Davis' career has been a commitment to public and civic service in New York, mirrored by a legal practice devoted to not-for-profit and cultural institutions and significant private-public developments and revitalization projects. Early in his career, Mr. Davis served as special assistant to Mayor Lindsay and as a Commissioner of the New York City Planning Commission. In 1978, Mr. Davis was appointed by Mayor Edward I. Koch to be Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation for the City of New York, where he served until mid-1983. He is also the Founding Chairman and a member of the board of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and a past President of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Last fall, the board of the Central Park Conservancy named him one of the four Founding Trustees of the Conservancy.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. Each year, Lincoln Center provides more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities.
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