Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced that Ana R. Daniel has been named chair emeritus by the Bay Street Board of Trustees.
Ms. Daniel served two different terms as chair, the first from 1991 to 2004, and the second from 2013 to 2015. She announced her retirement from the board at the end of 2017, and the board voted unanimously to create the role of chair emeritus in her honor.
Ms. Daniel has been a part of the nonprofit theater since its inception. “She began her involvement with Bay Street when it was just a glimmer in the eyes of founders Emma Walton-Hamilton, Steve Hamilton, and Sybil Christopher,” Bay Street stated. She helped form and lead a board of philanthropists, artists and theater-lovers that included, among others, Julie Andrews, Lionel Pincus, Joanna Rose, Elaine Steinbeck and Marty Richards. She also was responsible for hiring and mentoring Bay Street’s current executive director, Tracy Mitchell.
She remains on the boards of two East End classical music organizations: Pianofest in the Hamptons and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival.
“I am so grateful for all that Ana has done for Bay Street over the years,” said Steve Todrys, the current chair of the Bay Street Board of Trustees, in a statement. “Without her tireless efforts, I doubt that Bay Street would be the leading regional theater and community cultural center that it is today. Personally, I want to thank her for all of the guidance she has given me as I have stepped into the role she so ably performed for so many years. I will continue to reach out to Ana for advice as Bay Street moves forward.”