Fariha al Jerrahi

After a restructuring of the board, wherein Friedrich had departed and Winkler was ousted, De Menil's mother, Dominique, had installed former Metropolitan Museum executive vice president Ashton Hawkins as chairman, with Philippa (now under her Sufi Muslim name Fariha al-Jerrahi) still maintaining a seat.

[3] At the age of 29, she met her mentor and guide on the path of Sufism upon his first visit to the Americas, Sheikh Muzaffer Özak Âșkî al-Jerrahi of Istanbul.

Coincidentally, Sheikh Muzaffer, had passed away the night before the first new Dia board meeting, and she embraced it as a sign of change.

[4] Sheikha Fariha al-Jerrahi leads devotional prayers, ceremonies of divine remembrance, and provides spiritual guidance to initiates from her seat at the Dergah al-Farah, a Sufi lodge in downtown Manhattan, which was opened by the Dia Art Foundation in a former firehouse at 155 Mercer Street, and was later moved to 245 West Broadway during Dia's restructuring.

[8] While fostering bonds with the greater Sufi & Muslim American communities, the role of women in Islam and spiritual ecology have been of special importance to her message.