Leadership
Dale Lewis with students at the Usdan Center.
Dale Lewis launched Arts Reach Fund following thirty-two years as Executive Director of Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. Here he was responsible for Usdan’s educational and artistic programs, and for its community and financial footprint. During Dale's tenure the Center’s curriculum grew from 30 programs of study to 57. He created a vibrant presence for Usdan in Long Island’s business, government and donor communities, and he conceived and shepherded capital campaigns to add to the Center’s iconic campus.
In addition to his work at Arts Reach Fund, Dale is Vice Chair of Long Island Arts Alliance and he serves on the boards of charitable foundations. He conceived and and co-produces the Knights/Tilles Center String Orchestra Convocation, an event partnering Long Island's All-State string players with The Knights, the innovative collective of some of New York's foremost orchestral artists. Dale is the Executive Producer of two composition and recording projects with The Knights: Keeping On, a "Covid defiant" music video composed by members of the ensemble, and The Knights Before Christmas, available on CD, Spotify, and Apple Music.
Numerous awards have been presented to Dale for his service to arts education including those from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the New York State School Music Association, and the Art Supervisors Association. In 2015 Usdan's Board of Trustees honored him with the naming of the stage in its concert hall, the 1,000-seat McKinley Performing Arts Center.