About

MELA is an interdisciplinary arts organization founded in May 1985, designed to encourage creative work in the fields of music, the visual arts, and other media; to explore the applications of advanced technologies to artistic expression; and to present major contemporary works and extended duration art installations that eliminate the boundaries between artistic disciplines. The Foundation is also dedicated to the development and maintenance of extensive archives documenting the work of some of the central figures in the world of contemporary art. The name MELA references the Sanskrit word mela, which merges the meanings of consonance, harmonizing, combining, gathering together, and is etymologically related to milana, the verb: to tune. The letters M E L A form the acronym for Music Eternal Light Art.

As an artist-led organization with uncompromising dedication to high art presentations, we have produced and presented long-term exhibitions, art installations, live performances, teaching programs and publications. The MELA Dream House Sound and Light Environment opens four times a week to the general public visited by approximately 8,000 people a year. Our programs feature unique and highly diverse traditions of music and new media, which radically challenges the premises of the past.

Artistic Director
La Monte Young

Executive Director
Jung Hee Choi

Honorary Directors
Pandit Pran Nath
  (1918 – 1996)
Marian Zazeela
  (1940 – 2024)

Board of Directors
Jon Hendricks
  President
Michael L. Commons
  Vice–President
Jung Hee Choi
  Vice–President
Kent D. Underwood
  Secretary
Patrice Miller
  Secretary Ex–Officio
Charles Curtis
Gretchen Gonzales Davidson
Alex Dea
Terry Riley
Michael Schumacher
Diane Wakoski

Advisory Board
Bob Bielecki
Robert W. Clarida
Paula Cooper
Christopher Dark
William Dawes
David Harrington
Wulf Herzogenrath
Dennis Johnson
Gary McGee
Kurt Munkacsi
Jonathan Rose
Roger Zissu
Paul Zukofsky

Advisors In Memoriam
John Cage
Merce Cunningham
Dominique de Menil
John Duffy
Rubin Gorewitz
Stanley Grinstein
Gustave Harrow
H. Wiley Hitchcock
Jerald Ordover

MELA Foundation, Inc.
mail@melafoundation.org     T. 917 603 9715
275 Church Street, New York, NY 10013
Office Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 1pm – 6pm