Museum PR Announcements News and Information

The Jewish Museum Appoints Claudia Gould as Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director

The Board of Trustees of The Jewish Museum announced that Claudia Gould has been named the institution’s new Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director.

Ms. Gould is currently Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She will assume her post at The Jewish Museum in fall 2011, succeeding Joan Rosenbaum. As previously announced, Ms. Rosenbaum will retire from The Jewish Museum at the end of August 2011 upon concluding a 30-year tenure during which she transformed the institution into an international arts destination and positioned it for future growth and success.

For more than a century, The Jewish Museum has illuminated the Jewish experience and demonstrated the power of art and Jewish culture through critically acclaimed exhibitions, related education programs, and a renowned collection of 26,000 objects that is among the three largest of its kind in the world and distinguished by its breadth and quality. Inspiring people of all religious and cultural backgrounds, the Museum is poised to enter a new phase and reach an ever broader and more diverse audience.

Claudia Gould will lead The Jewish Museum into this next phase. In her decades as a museum and arts professional, she has been noted for her commitment to outstanding original programming and an expansive interdisciplinary approach to exhibitions, education, and public outreach. Under her guidance, the ICA in Philadelphia has tripled its exhibitions and staff, doubled its attendance, and is nearing the completion of a successful endowment campaign, all while presenting a far-reaching vision of contemporary culture in relationship to the larger sweep of history. The New York Times recently wrote of the ICA, “On a surprisingly regular basis, the Institute of Contemporary Art mounts exhibitions that make the contemporary art adventures of many larger museums look blinkered, timid and hidebound.”

About Claudia Gould

Claudia Gould is a highly respected museum professional with three decades of experience in institutional management and curatorial practice. In her thirteen years at the helm of the ICA in Philadelphia, she dramatically expanded exhibitions and staff; grew and diversified the Board of Overseers; and tripled the institution’s annual operating budget. Under her leadership, the ICA board and staff recently completed their second five-year, long-range strategic plan.

About The Jewish Museum

Widely admired for its exhibitions and collections that inspire people of all backgrounds, The Jewish Museum, with an annual operating budget of nearly $16 million, is one of the world’s preeminent institutions devoted to exploring the intersection of art and Jewish culture from ancient to modern times. The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains a collection of 26,000 objects – paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media. Located at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, New York City, the institution organizes a diverse schedule of internationally acclaimed and award-winning temporary exhibitions as well as broad-based programs for families, adults, and school groups.

For information on The Jewish Museum, the public may call 212.423.3200 or visit the website at http://www.thejewishmuseum.org

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *