Established by Cunningham in 2000 and recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation in 2002, the Trust will serve as the custodian for his work following the planned closure of the Cunningham Dance Foundation on June 30, 2012.  The mission of the Trust is to preserve, enhance, and maintain the integrity of the choreographic and other artistic works of Merce Cunningham, and make such works available for the benefit of the public.

Beginning in 2012, the Trust will establish headquarters at New York City Center, where it will offer daily classes in Cunningham Technique™. The Trust will also launch a pilot program, the Cunningham Fellowship, through which a stipend will be awarded to individuals to restage a Cunningham work during a four-week intensive workshop. The Trust will continue to license Cunningham works to leading dance companies and educational institutions worldwide, and will partner with cultural institutions to mount special projects, performances, and exhibitions that celebrate Cunningham’s artistic achievements.

Leadership

Lynn Wichern, Executive Director, joined the Cunningham Dance Foundation as Chief Financial Officer in October of 2005. She was the Fiscal Administrator for the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1996-2005. Prior to that, she was the Fiscal Director for the Foundation for Independent Artists, a ten member corporate conduit for unincorporated artists, administered by Pentacle/DanceWorks. In that capacity she was the financial manager for Bebe Miller, Doug Varone, Urban Bush Women, and Eiko and Koma, to name a few. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa where she received a BA and MA in Dance. She also holds a MFA in Dance and Theater from Case Western Reserve University. Before coming to NYC she was a professor of Dance at the University of Virginia, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Drake University. She choreographed and performed as part of EMR Dance Company and Wichern/Wolfson Dance & Music in the '90s.

Trevor Carlson began working at the Cunningham Dance Foundation in 1998 and became Executive Director in 2005 after serving as the company’s General Manager, Director of Communications, and Company Manager. During his tenure, he has fortified MCDC’s residency programs for which he, in collaboration with Merce, developed a workshop for students based on Cunningham’s use of DanceForms. He helped to increase the number of visual artist collaborations by developing the possibility for Merce to create Events in repertory theater houses using different settings for each performance. A total of 25 additional collaborations have been staged in this manner. He also helped to forge new ventures such as the webcast series Mondays with Merce, for which he serves as Executive Producer. With Lynn Wichern, CFO, and members of the Board, Trevor developed the Legacy Plan, including the Legacy Tour, Dance Capsules, and career transition. He has lectured throughout South and North America, Europe, and the Middle East. A graduate of Juilliard with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance, he co-founded and has performed with the Stanley Love Performance Group.

Laura Kuhn is the executive director of the John Cage Trust, which she helped to found shortly after Cage’s death in 1992. Kuhn began working with Cage in 1986 on a variety of large-scale projects, completing her doctoral dissertation on Cage’s “Europeras” in 1992. From 1991 to 1996 she served as a founding faculty member of the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Program at Arizona State University West in Phoenix. In 2007, the John Cage Trust went into permanent residency at Bard College, where Kuhn became the first John Cage Professor of Performance Arts.

Patricia Lent, was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1984 to 1993, and White Oak Dance Project from 1994 to 1996. She has been on the faculty of the Merce Cunningham Studio for over 20 years, teaching technique classes and workshops, and staging work from the repertory. Staging projects include the reconstruction of Fabrications for MCDC's 50th Anniversary, Duets for North Carolina School of the Arts, Scramble for Laban, MinEvent for Cornish College of the Arts, and Roaratorio for MCDC's Legacy Tour. From 1998 to 2007, Lent taught second and third grade at P.S. 234 in lower Manhattan. Her essay in "Forever After: New York City Teachers on 9/11," describes the class trip to a MCDC rehearsal that inspired the development of the Studio's Educational Outreach Program. Lent was named a Trustee for the Merce Cunningham Trust in 2009.

Allan G. Sperling is a lawyer and long-time member of the Board of Directors of the Cunningham Dance Foundation. He first joined the Cunningham Dance Foundation Board in 1985, and served as its chairman from 1992-1998.  He currently serves as the chairman of the Foundation’s Legacy Committee. Sperling is a partner of the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, which provides the Cunningham Dance Foundation with legal services on a pro bono basis. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Alliance for Downtown New York.  Sperling previously served as chairman of the boards of directors of the Neuberger Museum of Art and the Rye Arts Center.

Robert Swinston, was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and attended Middlebury College and The Juilliard School, where he received a BFA in Dance. He danced with the Martha Graham Apprentice Company, the José Limón Dance Company, and with Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre. He joined MCDC in August 1980 and became Assistant to the Choreographer in July 1992. Since Merce Cunningham's death in July 2009, Swinston has been the Director of Choreography, overseeing the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the CDF Repertory Understudy Group and its work with the Cunningham Educational Outreach Program. Since 1998, Swinston has assisted in various Cunningham archival reconstructions including Suite for Five (1956–58); Summerspace (1958); How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run (1965); RainForest (1968); CRWDSPCR (1993); Ocean (1994); and the recent revivals of Squaregame (1976), Duets (1980), and Roaratorio (1983) for the Legacy Tour. He has assisted in the staging of Cunningham works on other companies, including Boston Ballet, White Oak Dance Project, Rambert Dance Company, and New York City Ballet. In 2003, Swinston received a “Bessie” Award for his performance in the revival of Cunningham’s How to Pass, Kick, Fall, and Run. Swinston was named a Trustee for the Merce Cunningham Trust in 2009.