Panel Discussion followed by a Cocktail Reception

Artworld recruitment firm Murk & Co is pleased to present the first in an ongoing series of experiences that will seek to address, and provide remedy for, pressing issues surrounding the culture of work in the 21stCentury. This inaugural event will take the form of a panel discussion about pay transparency, which, with the passing of recent legislation across the US, is becoming a national trend. This topic should be of particular interest to businesses in New York City with four or more employees who from November 1stare required to list minimum and maximum salaries on all job openings. This new legislation is meant to push employers to do the work that should lead to more fair and equitable pay. Moderated by the founder of Murk & Co, Sarah Murkett, and joined by Labor and Employment Lawyer and Partner at Pryor Cashman LLP, LaKeisha M.A. Caton, and Director of Human Resources at Dia Art Foundation, Emma Batman, the panel will address what pay transparency is, why it is important and what you need to do as an organization to get there.

About the Speakers:

Emma Batman

Emma has worked in people management and HR for over a decade.  As the Director of Human Resources at Dia Art Foundation, Emma supports the values of transparency and clarity within the organizational community and strives to foster an environment centered on advocacy and shared dialogue. Prior to joining Dia, Emma worked at the Metropolitan Opera with a focus on employee relations, coaching, and building sustainable systems for belonging and growth. She holds an MA in Cultural Sustainability from Goucher College.

LaKeisha M.A. Caton

Partner LaKeisha M.A. Caton is a member of Pryor Cashman’s Labor + Employment and Litigation Groups and combines her comprehensive litigation background with a focus on employment-related matters to bring results to clients across the globe. Having represented both management and executives in discrimination and harassment cases, LaKeisha brings her extensive knowledge of the law as well as her familiarity with the strategies often adopted by the opposition to every engagement. She leverages her comprehensive experience with federal, state, and local discrimination law and her background in litigation and dispute resolution to achieve favorable outcomes on behalf of her clients.

Sarah Murkett

Founder and principal of Murk & Co, a recruitment firm providing people solutions for the art world, Sarah has over 20-years of experience in the field. She began her art career at Marlborough and PPOW galleries after which she worked as a development and marketing consultant to art organizations such as NADA, Socrates Sculpture Park and Atelier 4. She joined Armand Bartos Fine Art in the fall of 2007. As Director, she was instrumental in launching the gallery and its exhibition program, which presented two historical exhibitions a year until the space closed in April of 2011.  Murk & Co began that year as a business dedicated to buying and selling artwork with a focus on Post-War and Contemporary Art, providing advisory services, and curating projects. Before turning her focus to recruitment in 2017, Sarah served as an advisor to both the Artist Pension Trust (APT) and MutualArt, helping to initiate sales programs for both companies and leading to the first financial distributions to artist members of APT.

Photo Credit: Michele Pred, The Art of Equal Pay