I’m here to make a difference.
My name is Bryan, I use he/him pronouns, and I am a creative producer, arts marketer, and civic organizer.
I believe that culture matters to everyone, but our institutions don’t serve everyone. We can change that, if we change who we center.
I find joy in connecting communities in bold, creative, and unexpected ways. I started CNTR ARTS to place Black folks, BIPOC folks, Queer folks, and Trans folks at the center of conversations in our world. Together, we can envision a world that is more just and more equitable, designed with all of us in mind.
My Bio
Bryan Joseph Lee (he/him) is a Southern-born Queer Black man who believes in making space for art. He is a creative producer, civic organizer, and the founder of CNTR ARTS, a creative agency that centers artists, activists, and communities of color through artistic producing and strategic consulting.
Most recently, Bryan served as Director of Public Forum at The Public Theater in New York City, where he investigated civic organizing and cultural changemaking at one of the nation's leading off-Broadway theater companies. As an artistic curator, his work centers the experiences of Queer, Trans, and BIPOC communities on stage and in our world. Bryan has also independently produced and programmed several Black Queer artists at venues like La Mama Theater Company and The Shed in New York City. In 2021, Bryan was named a Producer-In-Residence with The Shubert Organization, and is incubating multiple commercial projects with Black Queer artists that defy genre.
Before The Public Theater, Bryan led marketing and communications at Round House Theater, a regional theater company based in Bethesda, MD. There, he oversaw earned revenue and institutional marketing with a specific focus on cultivating diverse audiences through relationship building. During his tenure, Round House increased subscription and single ticket revenue by 51% and achieved the highest-grossing and highest-attended seasons in their 40-year history. Bryan has also worked with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Prince George's African American Museum, Source Festival, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
As a consultant, Bryan has guided numerous cultural placemaking initiatives around the world, including current city-wide partnerships in New York, NY; Newark, NJ; and Washington DC; and international projects in Alexandria, Egypt and Perth, Australia. Bryan is a frequent speaker on the topics of building relevance and resilience for arts organizations, and has delivered keynote speeches at the PAC Australia Conference in Sydney, and the Creu Cymru Annual Conference in Wales. Through his work, Bryan supports arts organizations and community partners as they develop equity-based strategies for social cohesion and civic development through the arts.
Bryan was a 2018 Global Arts Management Fellow at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, and was named a 2016 Rising Leader of Color by Theater Communications Group (TCG). He holds a degree in International Relations and Theater from Dartmouth College.