Maxwell L. Anderson, The Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art, announced the appointment of Anne Bergeron as the Museum’s Associate Director of External Affairs, effective November 5, 2012. The naming of Bergeron to this new role completes the reorganization of the DMA’s senior leadership team announced in March, which included the appointment of Robert Stein as Deputy Director and the promotions of Olivier Meslay to Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Tamara Wootton-Bonner to Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions. Bergeron has over 25 years of experience as an arts administrator, fundraiser, and consultant, and has held senior management posts at cultural and educational organizations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Missouri Arts Council, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
In the newly created position at the DMA, Bergeron will oversee the Museum’s development, marketing and communications, and visitor services departments, as well as its merchandising and food and beverage activities. As part of the Museum’s departmental restructuring, the position of Chief Development Officer will be eliminated and the search for a Director of Development, reporting to Bergeron, will be conducted.
As owner and principal of Anne Bergeron & Co. Consulting LLC, Bergeron has specialized in resource development for cultural and social enterprise nonprofits. She has helped organizations in the arts, design, education, and historic preservation fields achieve financial sustainability and build community by enhancing their operations and leadership, expanding outreach to constituents, and increasing philanthropic support. She has spearheaded planning for programmatic and capital initiatives, and assisted organizations in creating and implementing viable operating and fundraising plans. Her efforts have consistently raised leadership gifts from individuals and institutions alike. Past and recent clients have included Historic New England, Judd Foundation, National Museum of American Jewish History, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Inc., U.S. Biennial, Inc., and the World Monuments Fund, among others.
Prior to establishing her consulting firm in 2007, Bergeron held senior management posts at the National Writer’s Voice Project, where she managed the national expansion of a local literary arts program; the Missouri Arts Council, where she oversaw the programmatic development of a $200-million statewide cultural trust fund; the American Federation of Arts, where she created and led the department of external affairs; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, where she secured national landmark status for its historic building and multi-million dollar funding towards its exterior restoration.
Bergeron has taught graduate level courses on fundraising and philanthropy at Bank Street College of Education, Brown University, and others. In 2010-12, she served as Visiting Practitioner at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at Georgetown University, co-researching a book on the traits and approaches that result in superior museum performance, slated for publication next year.
A native of Connecticut, Anne holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Trinity College and an executive certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown University. She is a member of the American Association of Museums, the Association of Fundraising Professionals and The Museum Group. – www.dallasmuseumofart.org