Building Cultural Institutions for What Comes Next

Join Vittorio Calabrese (Cultural Strategist and inaugural Executive Director of Magazzino Italian Art) and Noah Landow (Founder and CEO at Macktez) for an informal conversation between a cultural strategist who advises a new generation of institutions and the founder of a technology consulting firm. Over the past decade, Vittorio has worked at the intersection of vision, capital, and infrastructure across multiple cultural contexts, including nine years at Magazzino Italian Art, where he partnered with the founders to develop a leading U.S. museum for post-war and contemporary Italian art. Today, his independent practice and his role as Senior Associate at AEA Consulting bring him into conversation with museums, foundations, heritage brands, and founder-driven cultural institutions navigating the question of what comes next: how new institutions take shape, how existing ones evolve, and how cultural infrastructure gets built and sustained today. We'll dive into the practical and strategic questions behind founding and growing cultural institutions in 2026 — bridging founders' and funders' personal motivations with the organizational, technological, and architectural systems required for long-term impact. Drawing from Vittorio's work across the U.S. and Europe — plus collaborations with heritage brands on initiatives blending legacy and innovation — we'll explore how cultural models differ across borders, why some institutions endure while others stall, and where new opportunities are emerging at the intersection of art, technology, and capital. Noah will bring his own unique perspective to the table, drawing from his decade of experience as Board President helping build UnionDocs, the award-winning non-fiction documentary arts center in Ridgewood, Queens, alongside his fascination with the role of curation in an age of social media, algorithmic feeds, and endless digital reproduction. Join us at the Macktez office, after work, over light snacks and sips, for an exploratory conversation on the future of museums, the role of organizational systems in cultural entrepreneurship, and the evolving ecology where art, government, and private enterprise intersect.Photography, audio, and video recording may occur at this event and by attending you consent to such recording media and its release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction.Event StructureWe ask that guests arrive between 7-7:30 pm to minimize disruption during the talk.7 pm - Doors open, opportunity to mingle over snacks and sips with other attendees7:30 pm - Guests take their seats for the talk8:15 pm - Informal mixer resumesOn AttendanceWe have a limited capacity. If your plans change, please update your registration so someone else can join.A bit about Macktez, and why we host this seriesMacktez is a technology consultancy collaborating with organizations going through dynamic change. Our goal is to form a lasting partnership between our team and our clients, so we can anticipate their technology challenges and help them navigate growth, disruption, and other evolving conditions. Each event in our Tête-à-Tech series is an opportunity to explore a specific cultural, scientific, historical, and personal issue. We fire at the synapses that connect each topic to other fields of interest and to our individual lives. And we do so in a comfortable environment to facilitate conversation that can be casual, surprising, and illuminating.To learn more, visit us at macktez.com.