Draft:Zack Zook

Zack Zook
Zook in St. Croix, 2024
Born	1984 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Arts administrator, curator, photographer, writer, entrepreneur
Known for	Creator of 81C; Founder of 81C Arts; General Manager of BookCourt
Website	81Cvi.com

Zack Zook (born 1984) is an American arts administrator, curator, photographer, writer, and entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Executive Director of 81C Arts, a nonprofit arts and education organization based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the creator of the 81C brand, a multidisciplinary platform that includes a contemporary art gallery, boutique hotel, wine and coffee bar, and cultural event space. Zook is also known for his contributions to independent literary culture in Brooklyn, New York, and for his work in historic preservation and community development in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

Early Life and Education

Zook was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Mary Gannett and Henry Zook, the founders of the independent bookstore BookCourt. He attended Grace Church School, P.S. 261, Packer Collegiate Institute, the International School for Global Studies, and was homeschooled before graduating from Xaverian High School in 2003. He enrolled at the University of the Virgin Islands in 2003 but left after one year. Growing up in the apartment above BookCourt, Zook was exposed to literature at a young age. He later recalled the “terrible influence” the staff had on him as a nine-year-old and listed his earliest reads as “the Cursed Poets – Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Lautréamont.”

Career

BookCourt and Literary Work

In 2005, Zook returned to Brooklyn and became General Manager at BookCourt, the bookstore his parents had founded in 1981. Under his leadership, BookCourt adapted to the challenges of the digital publishing era and a shifting neighborhood landscape. He launched a literary event series that brought major authors and public figures—including Jonathan Franzen, Bret Easton Ellis, Don DeLillo, Lou Reed, Jonathan Ames, Thomas Keller, Dean Wareham, and Michael Moore—to the store. Franzen’s reading at BookCourt in 2011 was documented by BOMB Magazine, as was a 2010 appearance by DeLillo. Lou Reed’s reading and signing for The Raven was promoted on his official website, and archived footage remains available on YouTube. Author Jonathan Ames was also a frequent BookCourt reader and once staged a live performance in which professional knife-thrower Throwdini hurled daggers at him inside the store. The scene was later fictionalized in the HBO series Bored to Death, which filmed at BookCourt and included a scene where the main character, played by Jason Schwartzman, has knives thrown at him by Throwdini.

In 2012, Zook appeared on a public panel titled “What Is the Future of the Independent Bookstore?” at the CUNY Graduate Center, alongside author Jonathan Ames and literary agent Eric Simonoff.

Zook was the founder and executive editor of the literary and arts journal Cousin Corinne’s Reminder, published alongside editors Noah McLaurine, Courtney Wade, and Hannah Zeavin. The annual publication was spotlighted in *The New Yorker* for its literary ambition, and included contributions from Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, as highlighted in *The New York Times*.

In 2008, Publishers Weekly profiled Zook as a “passionate bookseller… who has enough energy and people skills to sell coal in Newcastle but has instead chosen to sell books in Brooklyn.”

In 2014, Zook was named one of the "100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture" by Brooklyn Magazine.

In 2016, the BookCourt property—comprising two adjoining buildings—was sold to Eastern Capital for approximately $13.6 million, while the bookstore business itself was closed and not sold. In a New York Times article reflecting on the store's closing, Zook described the experience of running a family business as “psychotic but it works,” and said, “I used to sit at the window and hold my breath until someone walked by. Sometimes I’d gasp for air, it was so quiet.” The surrounding neighborhood was largely barren at the time BookCourt opened—according to the *Brooklyn Ink*, it was “one of the only shops on the street.” By the early 2010s, the Cobble Hill neighborhood had become a magnet for celebrities and creatives, with media outlets noting the steady rise of high-profile residents and visitors.

Author Emma Straub, a former employee, reflected on her experience at BookCourt in a 2021 essay for Wildsam, calling it “the Platonic ideal of what a bookstore should be.” She wrote, “There is no part of running a bookstore that is easy. It is work, real and constant and demanding.” Straub credited Zook and his family for teaching her how to treat books and people, and how to “build something real.”

Return to the Virgin Islands and 81C

In 2014, Zook returned to the U.S. Virgin Islands. He served as a director at the nonprofit Alternative Art Alliance (Sevenminusseven) and later founded Zook Industries, a construction firm focused on residential and commercial renovation. Notable projects included Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters, a specialty café and roastery.

In 2015, Zook completed an artist residency at Studio Kura in Itoshima, Japan.

In the wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017, Zook was interviewed live by Anderson Cooper on CNN, describing the post-storm destruction in St. Thomas as “post-apocalyptic.”

That same year, he purchased and began restoring a historic building at 81C Kronprindsens Gade. Despite a major setback due to a fire, Zook launched the 81C brand in 2020. The platform combines a contemporary gallery, boutique lodging, and cultural event space.

In 2021, 81C Arts received nonprofit status and launched a shared artist studio space, supported by its first grant from the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands. “The goal of the program is not just to provide safe, professional space to artists that actually need it,” Zook said, “but to immerse those artists who are using the space into the educational community.” He added that 81C would “work with teachers to do an after-school type program where those artists have an opportunity to mentor through creativity.”

In 2022, Zook lobbied for and supported the expansion of the Virgin Islands Enterprise Zone program to include the Savan and Downstreet districts, encompassing 81C’s location. 81C Kronprindsens Gade LLC, which operates the boutique hotel and café arm of the 81C brand, became an Enterprise Zone Commission beneficiary.

In 2024, Zook and 81C Arts were featured on WTJX’s *Analyze This* with Neville James to discuss the exhibition “Good Luck, Have Fun,” a solo show by St. Croix artist Strawberriemilk (Emily Braswell), and to announce two strategic partnerships: one with Silver Airways in support of regional arts initiatives, and another with Alpine Securities USVI aimed at strengthening youth enrichment and arts programming in historic Charlotte Amalie.

81C Arts has produced shows with off-island and international artists, including a curated solo exhibition by Puerto Rican artist Juan Carlos Amador, and *Somnium Tropicae* by artist Nel Figueroa, a multidisciplinary commentary on contemporary Caribbean identity.

Zook has also curated exhibitions for Peruvian-American artist Joan Jiménez, known as “Entes,” a foundational figure in South American street art and the Wynwood Arts District in Miami.

In early 2024, 81C Arts presented “From Here,” a solo photography exhibition by St. Croix artist Sharimar Cruz (Sycroix). The exhibition explored themes of home, identity, and temporality through candid street photography and rich portraiture. According to the curators: “This collection is a profound exploration of home, identity and the transient nature of time… steeped in the rich hues of vintage film and the vibrant tapestry of culture… a testament to the power of home.”

Zook has also curated private villa exhibitions, including a partnership with One Perfect Day Villa on St. Thomas. “Our collaboration with ‘One Perfect Day’ delivers contemporary art to visitors in a world-class grand villa setting,” said Zook. “Inspired by Tulum’s Casa Malca and other art hotels around the world, 81C’s curation at this residence aims to heighten visitor experience while representing artists living and working on St. Thomas and throughout the Caribbean.”

In January 2025, 81C announced a robust new calendar of exhibitions, community arts activities, and programs to further expand its impact. Zook has discussed 81C Arts' expansion plans for their education center in the Camille Pissarro Building as well as plans for a satellite gallery location in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Personal Life

Zook lives and works in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Zook has described his photography as “rooted in affection for urbanized Street Photography, which I began producing in New York City as a child. My work in portraiture, nature, and in the studio, is influenced by this perspective and therefore strives to capture scenes that expose viewers to contradictions in human expectations.” His portrait of jazz critic Stanley Crouch appeared in *Publishers Weekly* in 2020.