The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Petronio and Lauren Hudgins Shuman to its Board of Directors.

Stephen Petronio is known for his boundary-pushing innovation in American dance. His unmistakable language challenges traditional notions of movement and explores themes of sexuality, gender, and identity. A graduate of Hampshire College, he joined the Trisha Brown Company as the first male, and danced there from 1979-86. He founded Stephen Petronio Company in 1984, which toured throughout the world and was noted for its bold and visually stunning performances in collaboration with some of the most innovative composers, visual artists and fashion designers of our time. These collaborators include Cindy Sherman, Anish Kapoor, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, David Linton and Narciso Rodriguez, to name a few. In 2014 he conceived Bloodlines to honor the experimental post-modern pioneers that inspired him, and Bloodlines(future) to support a new generation of dancers and choreographers more equitably in his artistic lineage. He founded Petronio Residency Center (2017-2023), a research and development facility to provide support for artists and their creative growth, immersed in nature and without restriction. 

Petronio has received Numerous awards including a New York Performance Award (Bessie), The American Chorographer's Award, The Doris Duke Artist Award, A Guggenheim Fellowship and the McCormack Artists-in-Residence at Skidmore College. Petronio’s memoir, Confessions of a Motion Addict, was published in 2014.

Lauren Hudgins Shuman was born and raised in New York City, surrounded by art and artists. She received a B.A. from Dartmouth College with a major in Government. Shuman was most recently at David Zwirner, where she focused on sales and worked closely with the artists Oscar Murillo and Yutaka Sone. Prior to that, she spent six years working with Jack Tilton at Tilton Gallery, working across all aspects of the business and collaborating closely with artists including Simone Leigh, Derrick Adams, Ed Clark, Jeff Sonhouse, and Yashua Klos. At Tilton Gallery, she was involved in all aspects of the business, including primary and secondary market sales, artist relations, art fairs, accounting, and art handling. Prior to Tilton Gallery, Lauren began her career on the Money Market Sales desk within the Fixed Income division at Goldman Sachs.

Lauren and her husband live in New York with their three-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. Lauren and her husband continue to collect art, focusing on the work of their contemporaries as well as Color Field painters.