Linda C. Harrison, Director and CEO of The Newark Museum of Art (TNMOA), the largest art institution in New Jersey, has been appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), a national professional organization that brings together art museum directors at top institutions in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Harrison is one of five new AAMD trustees, which include the directors of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Art Gallery of Ontario, and Harvard Art Museums. AAMD members approved the new appointees at the organization’s first virtual annual meeting.
“I am tremendously honored to be chosen to serve with this esteemed group of art leaders,” said Director Harrison. “We are at the precipice of a new era for arts institutions that calls for a fresh, thoughtful approach to leadership that embraces radical change in order to overcome the greatest challenges facing our industry.”
The AAMD advances the profession by cultivating leadership, acting as advocates for the field and fostering excellence in art museums. Art museum directors must apply and be accepted to this organization based on a series of eligibility requirements.
Founded in 1916, AAMD’s activities include guiding best practices in art museum management and governance and defining ethics for the field, particularly through Professional Practices in Art Museums; providing tools and training necessary to help directors guide their institutions; collecting data for the art museum field, such as an annual Salary Survey; and partnering with other organizations and entities on research for the field.
“Linda brings a wealth of corporate and museum experience to the Board and will be a great strategic thought partner as the field addresses the continued economic and social impacts of the pandemic. We’re very pleased to welcome her on board and look forward to her contributions,” said Lial A. Jones, AAMD’s Board President and Mort and Marcy Friedman Director & CEO, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento.
Harrison joined The Newark Museum of Art as Director and CEO of the organization in 2018. She plays a strategic and unifying role for the institution and the city of Newark.
During her first 100 days, she developed a three-year Strategic Vision Plan to transform the Museum, adding a sense of urgency and a bold vision. Her plan expanded the notion of a logo upgrade into a major brand transformation, involving a re-engineering of the mission, brand image, and adding the clarifying words ‘of Art’ to the museum’s name. She established a new senior leadership team and revamped the organization for more engaging community impact.
Since instituting significant changes, the coronavirus has created a new set of challenges. Director Harrison promises that The Newark Museum of Art will emerge from the pandemic as an institution well poised to serve the public in a post-pandemic setting.
Before joining TNMOA, Harrison was director of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco where she spearheaded and led the museum redesign and construction expansion project with Gensler Architects, while simultaneously repositioning MoAD as a key contemporary art cultural anchor in the City of San Francisco.
Director Harrison joined the AAMD membership in April 2019 and will serve as a trustee for the next two years.
