Christina Mossaides Strassfield is the executive director of the Southampton Arts Center in Southampton, New York. Appointed as executive director in November 2022, she leads all aspects of the organization including artistic vision and programming, leading development and fundraising initiatives, and cultivating and maintaining the many partnerships and relationships with museum investors and partners, among other management functions. Strassfield previously worked with the Southampton Arts Center in summer of 2022 when she curated the Figures Transformed exhibition, showcasing the works of Deborah Buck, Hal Buckner, and Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas, three artists who each engage the human figure as the central imagery in their work.

Prior to her work with the Southampton Arts Center, Strassfield was museum director and chief curator of the Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York, a role she began in 2009. She had been the curator at Guild Hall Museum from 1990 to 1996 and returned in 2002. One of Strassfield’s standout achievements while overseeing the artistic leadership and overall management of Guild Hall Museum was the exemplary exhibition schedule: During her tenure she transformed the museum into a vital center for the visual arts in New York, recognized by standout reviews in The New York Times, Art in America, ArtNews, and New York Magazine.

Strassfield’s work with the Southampton Arts Center and the Guild Hall Museum allowed her to forge close relationships with important artists, dealers, and collectors from the New York art world. Strassfield led the development of major exhibitions with internationally recognized artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Chuck Close, Eric Fischl, David Salle, April Gornik, Cindy Sherman, Dan Flavin, Taryn Simon, Barbara Kruger, and Richard Prince.

Strassfield received her master’s degree in art history from Queens College, CUNY. Her teaching credentials include adjunct associate professorships at Dowling College, where in 2011 the museum studies minor and major were launched under her leadership, and an adjunct professorship at Southampton College. She has participated widely in symposiums, scholarly talks, and panels. Her personal appearances include News 12, NPR on WLIW, Plum TV, Cablevision, and LTV.  She has served on the art board of the LongHouse Foundation and on the executive board of the Long Island Museum Association, and she is a member of the prestigious ArtTable, which recognizes leadership roles by women in the arts.