How can your museum bring its mission to life to inspire and align staff and board members?
Join us for an engaging, one-hour virtual session featuring two esteemed museum leaders – Cyra Levenson, Deputy Director of Education and Public Engagement at the Guggenheim Museums, and Darsie Alexander, Chief Curator at the Jewish Museum. They will share their proven strategies for creating impactful strategic plans and building high-performing teams.
In this interactive session, we’ll explore what makes a museum’s mission, vision, and values statements truly compelling. Gain practical tools and insights to address current challenges, foster staff alignment, and position your museum for future success.
Don’t miss this chance to learn from the experts, connect with fellow museum leaders, and leave feeling inspired and ready to take action!
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Length: 1 hour
Location: Virtual; held via Zoom
Who should attend:
- Museum leaders and managers
- Individuals interested in museum careers
- Organizational development (OD) professionals
Cost: Free
Meet the speakers
Darsie Alexander is the Jewish Museum’s Susan and Elihu Rose Chief Curator. She previously held curator roles at the Walker Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art, and was Executive Director of the Katonah Museum of Art.
Alexander secured nationally-recognized artists for commissions and site-specific installations and conducted a strategic plan as the current Executive Director of the Katonah Museum of Art since 2014. Previously, she was Chief Curator at the Walker Art Center (2009-2014), where she organized numerous exhibitions, including the critically-acclaimed International Pop (2015-2016). While at the Baltimore Museum of Art (2000-2008) as Department Head and Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, she organized the only U.S. retrospective of the Austrian artist Franz West during his lifetime, Franz West, To Build a House You Start with the Roof: Work, 1972-2008 (2008). She started her career as an assistant curator in the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
As head of the Guggenheim’s Education and Public Engagement Department, Cyra Levenson leads the museum’s efforts to reach a broad audience through programming, content development, academic partnerships and community engagement. Levenson has a significant role in partnering across the foundation’s international network. Prior to joining the Guggenheim Museum in March 2020, Levenson was the Deputy Director and Head of Public and Academic Engagement at Cleveland Museum of Art, where she had worked since 2016. In this role, she was responsible for leading all aspects of public and academic engagement, including public programming, academic affairs, interpretation of the collection and exhibitions, and community engagement.
Previously, Levenson served as the Curator of Education and Academic Outreach at the Yale Center for British Art. She was also the Co-executive Secretary of the Yale-Smithsonian Partnership and was responsible for developing and leading the academic and public engagement initiative between the two institutions. Levenson has also held positions in the museum education field at The Rubin Museum of Art, The Heritage School in New York, and Seattle Art Museum.
Meet the facilitator: Laura Freebairn-Smith is a Partner and co-founder at OPG. Her specialty is assisting leaders in realizing the full potential of their organizations through humanistic and analytical practices, while offering guidance in the redesign of infrastructure, the creation of strategic plans, and with organizational development.
