Who We Are

Michi Jigarjian is the CEO and Founder of WORK OF ART HOLDINGS® (WOAH™), a female-founded art and culture firm at the forefront of redefining art’s role in fostering social impact and community engagement. She also serves as Managing Partner of 7G Group, where she spearheads socially responsible investment models to create sustainable long-term projects in underserved communities.

Prior to founding WOAH™, Jigarjian played a pivotal role in the development of The Rockaway Hotel, a project that became a symbol of revitalization and artistic focus for the Rockaway Beach community. Named Best Hotel of 2021-2023 by Travel + Leisure, the hotel gained widespread recognition for its commitment to arts and culture, a reflection of Jigarjian’s vision as its Creative Director and unique ability to merge cultural strategy with impactful, socially responsible development. As curator of the hotel’s art collection, Jigarjian considers artistic dialogues, bringing together works by regional and international artists that attract global visitors to experience Rockaway’s vibrancy. She also established an award-winning swim program, public art programs, a workforce initiative, and a pilot transportation program through cultural partnerships to promote ocean safety, mitigate underemployment, and fill transportation gaps unique to the area.

Jigarjian has served as the President of Baxter St at CCNY for more than a decade, where she led the 138-year-old organization to become a key incubator for emerging lens-based creators. While there, she curated over 40 exhibitions, created a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion task force, and established the Artist in Focus Fund.

A community leader, Jigarjian serves on the executive committee of the Brooklyn Museum’s board, the National YoungArt Foundation’s board with a focused role as its DEAI Chair. She was an Associate Professor at Bard College, her MFA alma mater.

Jigarjian is a first-generation, bi-cultural Mexican-American who resides in New York City with her husband, Charles, and their three children, George, James, and Rose.

Isolde Brielmaier, PhD, is the Chief Strategy Officer at Work of Art Holdings (WOAH). With over two decades of experience spanning the private, public, academic, and nonprofit sectors, her expertise has guided organizations and brands through cultural engagement strategies and contemporary art initiatives across the globe.

Previously, Brielmaier served as Deputy Director and Chief Innovation Officer at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. As part of the executive leadership team, she played a pivotal role in the museum’s 60,000-square-foot expansion, which significantly increased its exhibition space and strengthened opportunities for both artists and the public. Brielmaier also anchored NEW INC, the museum’s flagship incubator program for art and technology and served as a Trustee from 2017-2021. Prior to this, Isolde was Executive Director of Arts, Culture & Community at Westfield World Trade Center. While there, she led transformative cultural initiatives, forged strategic partnerships, and developed large-scale artist projects and installations across Westfield properties nationwide, further cementing Westfield’s reputation as a cultural destination. Brielmaier has collaborated with an extensive range of Fortune 500 companies and global luxury brands, including Apple, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Peninsula Hotel Group, Gucci, and Valentino.

Her work as a curator and writer has paired her with some of the most prominent contemporary artists of our time, including Carrie Mae Weems, Wangechi Mutu, Richard Mosse, Tyler Mitchell, Fred Wilson, and Bharti Kher. She has held esteemed positions such as Curator-at-Large at the International Center for Photography (ICP) and Chief Curator of the SCAD Museum of Art.

A scholar and practitioner, Brielmaier earned her PhD from Columbia University and is currently Associate Professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is a three year TED Ignite Fellow and hold certificates in sustainable business and leadership from Harvard Business School. Isolde is the author of several books and speaks and writes regularly on art, culture and social impact. Isolde serves on several boards and is committed to social justice and human rights.