Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art Names Brandon Perdomo Executive Director — New director's first public program, Eighty Years on the Hill, opens the museum archives on August 30

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Media Contact: Brandon Perdomo, Executive Director Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art bperdomo@tibetanmuseum.org | (718) 734-7389

Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art Names Brandon Perdomo Executive Director —

New director's first public program, Eighty Years on the Hill, opens the museum archives on August 30

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — August 21, 2026 —

The Board of Trustees of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art has appointed Brandon Perdomo as Executive Director, effective July 1st. Perdomo steps into the role having served the museum since 2023, most recently supporting its archives, communications, and digital infrastructure. He becomes director of the first institution in the hemisphere dedicated to the art and culture of Tibet and the Himalayas.

Perdomo's first public program as director, Eighty Years on the Hill: Art, Mindfulness & Celebration, takes place on the museum campus on Sunday, August 30, and marks eight decades of the institution alongside the 91st birthday of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. Two rarely seen pieces of archival footage will be screened publicly.

Founded in 1945 by Jacques Marchais and opened to the public in 1947, the museum occupies a fieldstone complex on Lighthouse Hill modeled after a Himalayan mountain monastery. The complex is the first example of Himalayan architecture in the hemisphere, and the museum property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The collection holds roughly 1,000 art objects alongside a research library of nearly 2,000 volumes.

Perdomo's connection to the institution reaches back to childhood. He first came to the grounds as a boy, watching his grandmother and aunt practice Tai Chi on the terraced gardens above the borough.

"I first arrived to the campus as a child, and the shapes and space of the monastery on Lighthouse Hill have since been an anchor of home," said Perdomo. "To return now in service of this collection, this community, and the visitors who find something of themselves here is the honor of my life. As proud grandson to Colombia, Honduras, and Greece, I carry stories of those who have come before me into everything I do - my work has always been guided by the people and traditions I am in community with - this informs my practice as a cultural worker, and I intend to safeguard this important cultural heritage collection, to open it more widely, and to share its living traditions with generations who have yet to climb the hill."

The Tibetan Museum Board is proud to announce Brandon Perdomo's selection as the Executive Director.

“He has an extensive education in Museum, Library and Technology systems and has in a short time begun to bring about standard based changes to the museum.” 

-Beverly Anderson, Board president

Perdomo holds a Master of Library and Information Science from Syracuse University, with a concentration in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums and a focus on cultural heritage preservation, and a Master of Arts in Oral History from Columbia University. His work in the cultural sector spans more than a decade: service as a non-governmental representative to the United Nations, a role as Exhibitions Coordinator at the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, an appointment as Heritage Ambassador of the Brooklyn Public Library, and years as Archive Manager and Operations Associate with the performance organization LEIMAY/CAVE, where he led the digitization and cataloging of more than two decades of dance and performance media under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Through his studio, Studio Birdhaus, he serves as Archive Manager of the Clayton Patterson and Elsa Rensaa Archive, one of the most extensive independent collections documenting the cultural and activist history of New York's Lower East Side, and as archival consultant to both the John Milisenda and Kurt Boone archives. A working artist in his own right, Perdomo's practice moves across photography, dance, and theater, with exhibitions and performances throughout New York City and beyond. He is a 2026 recipient of the Charlton Oral History Research Grant from Baylor University and has been recognized by the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archival Assistance Initiative and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others.

In his tenure at the Museum, Perdomo has supported the museum's collections and technology modernization, expanded its public programming and community partnerships, and significantly grew its public profile and audience. As director, he intends to develop the museum's exhibitions and public programming, broaden access to the collection, and share the living traditions of Tibet and the Himalayas with audiences across the New York region and beyond.

First Program Under New Leadership: Eighty Years on the Hill: Art, Mindfulness & Celebration

Sunday, August 30, 2026 | 2:30 – 4:00 PM | Hybrid, in person and on Zoom 

https://www.tibetanmuseum.org/event-details/eighty-years-on-the-hill-art-mindfulness-celebration-hybrid

Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, 338 Lighthouse Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10306

The museum opens its new chapter with an afternoon honoring 81 years since its founding, 79 years since it opened to the public, and the 91st birthday of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. At the center of the program is footage drawn from the museum's own archives and rarely seen: excerpts from His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 1991 visit to Lighthouse Hill, and a 1988 film carrying voiceover by the late Professor Robert Thurman. Perdomo introduces both.

The afternoon opens outside with a standing tour led by former Board member Kathleen Xi, who speaks on Jacques Marchais, her era, her collecting, and how the museum carries that gift forward for a community far broader than its founder imagined. Perdomo then offers welcoming remarks and an introduction to his leadership before the screening. Himalayan art and culture expert Tashi Chödrön, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, follows with a talk on Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and His Eminence Gegye Yongyal Tulku Rinpoche leads a guided mindfulness meditation. The program closes on the terraced gardens with the blessing and hoisting of consecrated prayer flags and collective mantra chanting for world peace.

Admission is by suggested donation: $25 general, $10 students, with needs-based pricing available. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Seating is limited and RSVP is required. Tickets and full program details are available at tibetanmuseum.org.

About the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is the first institution in the hemisphere dedicated to the art and culture of Tibet and the Himalayan region. Founded in 1945 and opened in 1947, the museum is located at 338 Lighthouse Avenue, Staten Island, New York. Its stone buildings, designed to evoke a Himalayan monastery, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum preserves a collection of roughly 1,000 objects and shares the living traditions of the Himalayas with the public through exhibitions, programs, and educational offerings rooted in cultural heritage and community.

Bridging cultures through Himalayan art & heritage since 1947.

For more information, visit [tibetanmuseum.org] or contact info@tibetanmuseum.org.