The Tamesis
The Newark Museum of Art (NMOA) in New Jersey has appointed Lisa Funderburke as its next director and chief executive officer, effective February 1. She succeeds Linda C. Harrison, who left the position seven months ago after six years.
Funderburke comes to NMOA, which houses a collection of 300,000 pieces of Tibetan art and has an annual operating budget of just under $19 million through 2023, from a much smaller organization, the Artists Community Alliance. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, the nonprofit organization focuses on supporting artists and artist residencies in the United States and internationally. During her nearly decade-long tenure, she helped grow the organization’s operating budget to $2.5 million, according to the agency. new york times.
Related articles
Prior to joining Artists Community Alliance, Funderburk served as associate director of the McColl Center for Arts + Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina, and as director of the Charlotte Museum of Nature. At the McColl Center, she focuses on “organizational strategy, fundraising, and public programming at the intersection of contemporary art, community engagement, and ecology,” according to a press release.
Peter Englot, chairman of the museum’s board of directors, told the media era Funderburk was selected from dozens of candidates through a nationwide search. “Lisa brings a unique breadth and depth of experience as a museum and arts leader to the museum,” he said in a statement, adding that he and the search committee “agreed that Lisa’s innovative approach and creative ideas are truly unparalleled. Her infectious energy and energy make us confident in her ability to strengthen the museum’s foundation and bring equal parts vision, strategy and practical thinking to propel NMOA into becoming New Jersey’s greatest art museum and a premier museum” nationwide. “
Last year, NMOA spent $2.5 million renovating its Learning and Engagement Center, a 6,000-square-foot facility that first opened in 1990. Museum Campus is also part of the $100 million Museum Park development, which includes 250 mixed-income apartments in two buildings, as well as a 4,500-square-foot gallery space. New Jersey Real Estate. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2027.
“Museums matter most when they are responsive, collaborative, and deeply connected to the communities they serve,” Funderburk said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I have seen how cultural institutions function as critical civic infrastructure. I am excited to work with the Newark community and the broader network of artists and partners to position the museum as a leader in the national and global dialogue on arts, science, and cultural exchange, stewarding the museum as a shared public space for learning, creativity, and dialogue.”
Earlier this week, art news Point out the sheer number of museum director positions currently or soon to be open across the United States (without designated successors), from the New Museum in New York to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. One of those vacancies was filled on Tuesday, when NYU’s Gray Museum of Art named Alison Weaver as director.
