16 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 29, 2021
By Robert Storace
rstorace@hartfordbusiness.com
H
artford'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.
Wadsworth Atheneum's dual leadership
model gains popularity in arts industry
Former Webster Bank banker
Jeffrey Brown was recently
named permanent CEO of the
Wadsworth Atheneum.
HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER
