Anne Pasternak Named Director of the Brooklyn Museum

by Paddy Johnson on May 19, 2015 Newswire

Anne Pasternak

Anne Pasternak

Let’s hear it for the ladies. The New York Times reports that the Brooklyn Museum will take on Anne Pasternak as its new director this September.

Pasternak has been president and artistic director at the public art juggernaut Creative Time for the past 21 years. Now, not only will Pasternak be the first woman to lead the museum, which has a full-time staff of 308 people, it will be the first time Pasternak has worked in a museum. Typically, director positions largely consist of fundraising and attracting talent, though, which Pasternak has plenty of experience with. As the Times notes, when Ms. Pasternak became Creative Time’s president, it had an operating budget of $350,000, and only one full-time employee—her. It’s grown to a staff of 25 full-time employees and it currently has a budget of $5 million.

What Pasternak’s plans are for the future of the museum are not clear yet. The Times reports that as a long-term plan she hopes to open unused space within the Eastern Parkway building. Our hope is that she curbs the museum’s tendency to chase pandering exhibition concepts such as GO and Crossing Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Museum is a world-class institution, but the world may not be aware of that. Outside of New York, its name is seldom mentioned. Under the helm of Pasternak, though, we think that will change. She’s spent three decades at an institution that has no physical location and is known by branding alone. If her leadership is at all similar to what she did at Creative Time, by the time Pasternak is finished, the Brooklyn Museum will be a household name.

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