The Craft Show has successfully come and gone, many of Academy Art Museum’s 60th Anniversary events have taken place, the fall exhibitions have been planned and ready for display, and its capital campaign is near completion; so you’d think it would be the best time for AAM director Ben Simons to take a break from it all and find a sunny beach somewhere.
That turns out to be the wrong conclusion when the Spy started our first periodic check-in with Ben a few weeks ago. Still very much engaged in documenting the remarkable history of the Academy since 1958, completing a highly demanding national re-accreditation process for the institution, and leading a long-term strategic planning process for this rapidly growing museum and art school, his workdays are very much spoken for in the near term.
In the first of our periodic chats with Director Simons, the Spy talks in this installment about the remarkable history of the AAM, the grueling but highly rewarding success of being re-accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and pushing hard for the four primary objectives of the Academy’s capital fund drive.
This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about the Academy Art Museum please go here
Carla Massoni says
PS Loved seeing our incredible permanent collection gracing the walls of the AAM. The crafts were fabulous but the works on the walls even with the visual cacophony of the show – just blew me away! Cherish the ARTS and the AAM!!!