January 08, 2015
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
The Barnes Foundation board of trustees announced the appointment of Thom Collins as its new executive director.
Collins previously spent five years as director of the Perez Art Museum in Miami, though he's a native Philadelphia suburbanite. The press release issued to PhillyVoice.com cites the opening of a new museum building, the beginning of in-house production of digital education tools and an uptick in membership during his Perez tenure as top-billed reasons for his appointment.
"Thom is a national leader in the visual arts and is recognized for his expertise and breadth of knowledge in education and art history," Barnes Foundation Chairman of the Board of Trustees Joseph Neubauer said in the press release. "His track record in museum leadership, community outreach and development makes him the right choice to lead the Barnes Foundation at this time."
Collins also spent five years as director for the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, New York, and two years as director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore from 2003-05.
According to The New York Times, Collins was responsible for bringing in 300,000 visitors in the first year of the Perez Art Museum's new building. The Barnes, for perspective, has drawn a high of 325,000 in recent years, according to this December 2013 release.
Collins yesterday offered up a few thoughts to The New York Times.
"I've always thought of myself as an educator," said Mr. Collins, who added that he felt that the Barnes had "really never been able to bridge to that great academic community in and around Philadelphia" -- schools like the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University and Swarthmore College, his undergraduate alma mater.
Asked his opinion about the Barnes's relocation from the suburb of Merion -- permitted in a 2004 court decision that circumvented the charter and bylaws of Barnes, who had stipulated that his collection not be lent, sold or moved from its original home -- Mr. Collins said: "To me it seems like an unqualified success. I have no reservations about it at all, and I wouldn't be going there if I did."
According to The New York Times report, Collins will wrap up his duties at the Perez before taking the reins at the Barnes in March. (Also worth seeing: His more localized remarks to The Miami Herald about his successes and pitfalls as the Perez's director.) The board of trustees has been searching for a new executive director and president for more than a year; former Executive Director Derek Gillman, who oversaw the museum's move from the suburbs to its current Benjamin Franklin Parkway location, stepped down on Jan. 1, 2014, to join Drexel University's Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.
Stay tuned for more details as they emerge.
