Walker Art Center Announces New Executive Director

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The contemporary art museum Walker Art Center announced today that Mary Ceruti will be its next Executive Director. Ceruti currently leads SculptureCenter, a multidisciplinary organization in Long Island City, New York, as Director and Chief Curator. A Cleveland, Ohio, native, Ceruti has over two decades of experience as a curator and arts executive. She began her career at Philadelphia Museum of Art before serving as the Program Director for Capp Street Project in San Francisco. Ceruti has been with SculptureCenter since 1999.

"Mary's visionary leadership of SculptureCenter, her dedication to supporting the most important emerging artists of our time, and her well-known track record of attracting and developing great talent made her a tailor-made choice to lead the Walker now," comments John Christakos, Walker Art Center Board President.

Ceruti will assume the directorship of the Walker in late January 2019. She states, "The Walker has been a trailblazer in identifying the experimental and influential art and artists of its time, continually demonstrating the power of art to help us understand, navigate and shape the contemporary world. I am looking forward to partnering with international artists and colleagues, the Minneapolis community, and the experienced and dedicated staff and board of the Walker to build on its world-class collection and ambitious programs."

Ceruti is known amongst artists and colleagues for her dedication to the needs of artists. Artist and SculptureCenter board member Fred Wilson explains, "Mary Ceruti has many, many great strengths as an Executive Director, but the one strength that sets her far apart from others in that position is her connection to, and understanding of, artists. Artists know that Mary gets it, and will put the wind behind your sails."

Ceruti is admired in the museum field for her development of SculptureCenter and her commitment to artists. Adam Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum, comments "Mary, as a director/curator, has transformed a venerable but modest artist-run organization into a dynamic, internationally-recognized hub for sculpture in all its myriad forms. With her clear and persistent sense of mission, open-minded generosity, collaborative spirit and rigor she is one of the most respected and well-liked arts leaders in New York. Above all, she is admired by the artists and her staff for her courage, kindness and integrity. Walker Art Center is so fortunate to have her take the helm."

View walkerart.org/press-releases for the full press release.

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SOURCE Walker Art Center