FOUNDER
SARAH GAVLAK
In 2005, Sarah Gavlak opened the first contemporary art gallery in Palm Beach after recognizing a lack of local gallery presence there. She founded her eponymous gallery with the goal of championing female and LGTBQ artists. Over the last 14 years, she has staged highly conceptual and pioneering exhibitions, which include early solo presentations by Marilyn Minter, Betty Tompkins, Simone Leigh, and Wade Guyton. In 2014, she expanded her footprint and opened a 5,000 square foot space in Hollywood, and recently took on representation for artists Gisela Colon, Beverly Fishman, Candida Alvarez, and Vanessa German.
LEONARD JACOBS
Leonard Jacobs (Executive Director) was born and raised in Queens and fell in love with theatre in utero. He has worked as a playwright, director and producer, and became an arts journalist, editor and theatre critic not long after Thespis stepped out of the chorus line. Currently, he serves as Executive Director of the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning. Prior to JCAL, he was Director of Cultural Institutions at the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, National Theatre Editor at Backstage and Founding Editor of Theatermania.com. He also created The Clyde Fitch Report, which published opinion and reporting from the crossroads of arts and politics. He graduated Jamaica HS, NYU (BA), and Hunter College (MA), and taught arts administration at Baruch College for three years.