I am always interested in new opportunities to take on the management and logistics of creative and ambitious arts endeavors. Please feel free to contact me at mike [at] thetanknyc [dot] org to discuss any prospective projects.

The Tank

In the spring of 2003 I had the unique opportunity to take over a disused storefront on west 42nd street with a a group of friends. With an incredibly cheap rent and a standing 30-day notice, we moved fast to create a place where the emerging artists we knew in new york could try out new material in a variety of disciplines. Six years later, The Tank is a non-profit space for performing arts, with an annual operating budget of over a quarter million dollars. We present over 300 shows a year in the disciplines of comedy, music, theater, dance, film, and public affairs.

During these six years I have had the pleasure to serve as part of the management team that took that random scrappy storefront and turned it into a mainstay of the arts in new york, in a half decade that has seen the closing of a dozen similar such places. In addition to serving on the board and acting as part of the management team, I served as the daytime managing director for almost 2 years and helped grow the number of daytime staff from 1 to 3 (and growing!).

Bent Festival

I have curated over 200 concerts at The Tank, and created and organized two international festivals of electronic music, the Bent Festival and the Blip Festival. The Bent Festival is now in its 6th year and annually brings 30 international circuit benders to New York for 4 days of concerts, art installations, and workshops. I have overseen all aspects of the festival including curation, artist communication, grant writing, corporate sponsorship, venue logistics, tech management, publicity, house management, etc. Additionally, in 2007 and 2008 I worked to create Bent Festivals in Minneapolis and Los Angeles as well.

Blip Festival

In 2006, based on the success of the Pulsewave Concert Series at The Tank I collaborated with Josh Davis and Jeremiah Johnson to create the Blip Festival. Similar in layout to the Bent Festival, Blip focuses on the electronic music subgenre of Chiptunes, or people making music using old video game hardware like the Nintendo Game Boy. The Blip Festival was an instant success and annually attracts over 2,000 audience members over the 4 nights of concerts. It has also received attention in the New York Times, ABC World News, NPR, BBC, etc etc etc.Blip Festival is a massive logistical undertaking that continues to grow in scope with every year.