🔒Wadsworth Atheneum’s dual leadership model gains popularity in arts industry

Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art has decided to follow what is now becoming a trend among arts and culture institutions: It’s split the CEO position into two separate roles, appointing one individual focused on business and finance and another on artistic direction and strategy.

The news comes on the heels of similar changes made by the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut.

Industry observers say nonprofit arts and culture institutions, many of which have done business one way for decades, are realizing it makes sense from both a financial and artistic standpoint to split up leadership roles.

“I look at it as a smarter way to run these museums and performing arts facilities,” said Lori Budnick, a principal with accounting and consulting firm CLA (Clifton Larson Allen) in West Hartford who specializes in nonprofits. “At the end of the day, you have to pay the bills and fill the seats for a show, or increase membership if you are a museum. It’s important to have both sides [president or CEO and artistic director] of that thought process. You want to have someone who is very talented running the business and leading and managing it, and someone very talented from the artists standpoint as well. Having strong people on both sides of the house is just smart.”

Modern-day complexities

The Wadsworth, which opened in 1844 and is the oldest continually operating public art museum in the United States with 75,000 square feet of exhibition space, officially announced its dual leadership model earlier this month.

The museum, known nationally and internationally for its collections of European Baroque art, French and American impressionist paintings and Hudson River School landscapes, named Jeffrey Brown CEO, while it continues to search for a new artistic director.

Brown was a museum trustee for nine years and served as interim CEO before being named to the position on a permanent basis in October.

He replaces Tom Loughman, who left abruptly in April after about five years as CEO. The Wadsworth made news shortly after that when then-board of trustees President William Peelle Jr. made public statements criticizing the museum’s direction and alleged lack of diversity.

Peelle resigned his board seat shortly after that.

Brown, who sat down with the Hartford Business Journal earlier this month to talk about the museum’s new direction, declined to discuss the Peelle controversy.

The 64-year-old Connecticut native said the museum decided to split its top leadership position after consulting with several industry experts, most notably Metropolitan Museum of Art President and CEO Daniel Weiss. That institution reinstalled a dual leadership model 4 ½ years ago.

“I think that the complexity of running a modern museum in today’s day and age requires a tremendous degree of experience in running businesses as well as developing the artistic side of the house,” said Brown, who had a long career in banking and, in 2014, joined Newman’s Own as executive vice president.

Brown said the director’s search will be all inclusive with a focus on bringing in as many diverse candidates as possible to interview. The process will take about six months; he’s agreed to stay on as CEO for at least several more years.

The dual leadership model has worked well at the Goodspeed, according to Hila Rosen, president of that theater’s board of trustees.

In January Goodspeed Musicals, operator of the historic theater in East Haddam, named its first woman artistic director, Donna Lynn Hilton, and a new managing director, David B. Byrd.

That leadership duo replaced Michael Gennaro, who was the nonprofit’s longtime executive director before retiring last year.

“The work of leading Goodspeed — with not only its production in two theaters, but also its educational work, its programs for new musicals and for budding writing and composing talent — has become far too complex for one person,” Rosen said. “Now, our artistic director has the bandwidth to consider and choose all aspects of our artistic endeavors, and our managing director is able to truly manage the business of Goodspeed.”

Sponsorship support

The Wadsworth, like most arts institutions, is now recovering from the pandemic’s negative impacts.

COVID-19 forced the museum to close its doors last year from March to Labor Day. It did receive two Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $1.5 million, which helped the museum avoid laying off or furloughing its 65 full-time and 45 part-time workers.

In fact, the Wadsworth recently hired 20 more part-time gallery attendants to support the museum’s expanded hours.

The Wadsworth’s annual budget varies, depending on circumstances, but is in the $9 million range, Brown said.

“It was earned revenues that really fell apart during the pandemic, but our supporters, by and large, stood by the institution,” he said. “We were able to maintain [financial stability], but it came from different quarters.”

Corporate sponsors that helped the museum financially during the pandemic included Bank of America, Travelers Foundation, The Hartford, and the Scripps Family Foundation, among others.

In a typical year, the museum will see 100,000 visitors including about 35,000 or so from out of state, Brown said.

Brown and other leaders of the institution say its artwork and exhibits have allowed the museum to excel for more than 175 years.

“Telling stories is the biggest thing we do,” said Gerard Lupacchino, interim board president. “We are beginning to activate the framework of our strategic plan. The first pillar is to celebrate art and art making. The second is to showcase storytelling.”

Other pillars, he said, deal with diversity and how others view the Wadsworth.

“For example, how do people see the museum when they drive down Main Street” in downtown Hartford, Lupacchino said. “How do they see it? We’ve had new banners on the front of the building that are bigger than ever and that tell our story. We have also had exhibits on the front lawn. We need to improve the perception that this is a really cool place that people will want to come to.”

Brown said the primary and best-known exhibit — among the 2,800 pieces of art now on display — is “By Her Hand.” The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 9, features Artemisia Gentileschi and 17 other female artists from the 1500s to 1800s.

“These women were all very successful in their time,” Brown said. “And, for the most part, they have been written out of history. We are highlighting them and showcasing their extraordinary work.”

Another upcoming exhibit includes The Amistad Center for Art & Culture’s “Changing Lanes: African American mobility in Connecticut,” which explores the many barriers Black people have faced in this country related to travel, housing and education.

The exhibit runs from Dec. 9 to April 3, 2022.