Brittani Von Ruden bvonruden@wisconsinart.org
Good Evening,
Attached
is a press release announcing Laurie Winters as the new Executive
Director/CEO of the Museum of Wisconsin Art. As you may already know,
Laurie comes to the Museum with an impressive background in art, art
history, museum experience, leadership and vision. This is great news
not only for the Museum of Wisconsin Art and the city of West Bend, but
for the entire Wisconsin arts community.
We
are honored and very excited to welcome Laurie on board. Laurie is
available and open to doing interviews. Please let me know if you are
interested.
Thank you,
Brittani
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: November 13, 2012
Contact: Brittani Von Ruden, Marketing Coordinator
RE: Museum of Wisconsin Art Announces New Executive Director
Laurie Winters Named Director of the Museum of Wisconsin Art
(WEST
BEND, WI) The Museum of Wisconsin Art announced today that it has named
Laurie Winters as its new Executive Director/CEO. Winters comes to MWA
after having served fifteen years at the Milwaukee Art Museum, most
recently as Director of Exhibitions and Publications. The third director
in the Museum’s 51-year history, Winters assumes her position on
November 26, 2012.
Laurie
Winters was the unanimous choice of MWA’s director search committee.
During her tenure as Director of Exhibitions and Publications at the
Milwaukee Art Museum, Winters successfully developed a nationally and
internationally acclaimed exhibition program that helped more than
double the museum’s attendance. Her own curatorial record includes Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland (2002), named one of the top five exhibitions of the year by Apollo magazine, and the Summer of China
(2011), which brought Chinese art to Milwaukee for the first time.
These two exhibitions broke all previous records, claiming the top two
spots for highest attendance in the museum’s history. Beginning in 2003,
Winters established a collaboration with the Albertina in Vienna, which
led to the 2005 exhibition Rembrandt and His Time: Masterworks from the Albertina, the 2006 exhibition Beidermeier: The Invention of Simplicity, and the 2011 exhibition Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper.
Beidermeier received rave reviews in Art in America, The New Republic, and The New York Times, which named the exhibition catalogue decorative arts book of the year. From Milwaukee, the exhibition traveled to the Albertina,
the German Historical Museum in Berlin, and the Louvre in Paris, and is
today recognized as a model of international collaboration.
Most
recently, Winters founded The Art Consortium, an international think
tank of museum and art world leaders devoted to solving problems facing
art museums. As President of the Consortium, Winters convened the first
annual meeting of the organization in Vienna from October 22 to 24,
2012. At the Vienna meeting, museum directors and other leaders from the
U.S. and Europe engaged with thinkers such as technologist Jaron
Lanier, psychologist Susan Weinschenk, economists Georg
Franck-Oberaspach and Arjo Klamer, and art critic Jason Kaufman.
“When
we undertook our search, the first words we heard from everyone we
talked to were ‘Get Laurie Winters,’” said Dale Kent, chair of the
Museum of Wisconsin Art’s Board of Trustees. “She has a proven track
record of working with stakeholders to translate innovative ideas into
successful programs that attract audiences and patronage. Her record in
Milwaukee and her work in creating The Art Consortium are perfect
examples of the energy and creative vision she will bring to the Museum
of Wisconsin Art.”
“Winters
is unique in the museum field,” said Susan Cerletty, chair of the
director search committee. “She has both a strong commitment to
scholarship and a deep understanding of the role that museums can and
must play within their communities. Winters is a leader who will expand
the role the Museum of Wisconsin Art plays, regionally and nationally,
in meaningful ways.”
“I
am honored to have been selected as the next Director of the Museum of
Wisconsin Art,” said Winters. “This is a transformational moment in the
Museum’s history, and I look forward to working with the talented staff,
trustees, and community leaders who have demonstrated an unparalleled
sense of civic responsibility and commitment to the arts and artists of
Wisconsin. The opportunities created by the new building are exciting
for West Bend and for the entire state.”
Museum
board member Tom Uttech, a well-known Wisconsin artist, said he was
very happy about Winters’s appointment because she really does look at
museums differently. “She sees them not just as places where you show
art from the past—even the very recent past—but as catalysts for the
creation of new art. As a working artist that excites me.”
Winters
holds an MBA from Alverno College (2012), an MA in art history from the
University of Michigan (1988), and a BA with honors in art history and
French from the University of Toledo (1981). She lived in Paris in 1989
and 1990 as a Fulbright Fellow and was selected for the inaugural class
of the Center for Curatorial Leadership (CCL) in 2008 and for the Getty
Leadership Institute’s museum leadership program in 2009. She was awarded the Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the Polish Republic in 2003 for her work on the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland.
Laurie Winters’s husband, Brian Winters, is a partner at Quarles & Brady, LLP in Milwaukee.
Professional Accomplishments
Winters’s professional background includes the following highlights:
· Founding
President and Executive Director of The Art Consortium, Inc., a
nonprofit organization of U.S. and European art museum directors and art
world leaders.
· Named a Milwaukee Business Journal Woman of Influence in 2012.
· Raised over $20
million for acquisitions, sponsorships, and programming initiatives
during her tenure at the Milwaukee Art Museum, including securing the
largest single sponsorship for any exhibition (Jan Lievens, 2008).
· Developed
partnerships with the Albertina in Vienna, the Louvre Museum in Paris,
The Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, the National Museum in Warsaw, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, DC, among others.
· Has served on the Board of the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) since 2010.
· Served as an Assistant Professor of Art History at Rhode Island College, 1995–96.
· Awarded the Institute for the Humanities Graduate Fellowship, University of Michigan, 1991–92.
· Taught art history at Centre College, 1993–94, and the University of Michigan, 1988–89.
About the Museum of Wisconsin ArtThe
Museum of Wisconsin Art, Inc. is located at 300 South 6th Avenue in
West Bend, Wisconsin and will be moving to its new building at 205
Veterans Avenue in April 2013. MWA is a regional art museum featuring
the visual art of Wisconsin artists throughout the ages. Curatorial
support is provided in part by the Wisconsin Arts Board, the National
Endowment for the Arts and the National Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Public hours are Wednesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Sunday
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Admission: $5 for Adults, Students & Seniors $3,
Children 12 and under are free. Members are always FREE. For more
information call 262-334-9638, or visit the website at WisconsinArt.org.
###
Brittani Von Ruden
MARKETING COORDINATOR
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART
300 S. 6th Ave. / West Bend / WI / 53095
TEL 262.334.9638 ext: 228 / WISCONSINART.ORG / FAX 262.334.8080