Today, Feb 20, The Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) announced the appointment of Lori Starr as Executive Director. Starr will begin in her new role June 10, 2013.
Starr comes to the CJM from the Koffler Centre of the Arts, Canada’s only multidisciplinary, contemporary Jewish cultural institution offering cutting edge contemporary art exhibitions, music, dance, film, literary, theater, and other programs.
During her tenure as Executive Director, the Koffler grew its audience from 4000 to over 100,000 with an additional 100,000 via online media, and achieved critical and public acclaim for its series of Koffler Offsite exhibitions, public programs, artist/scholar residencies, art classes, and cultural happenings throughout Toronto.
“The Board of Directors and staff of the CJM are absolutely thrilled to have Lori Starr join the organization,” says CJM Board Chair David Levine. “She is a highly respected leader in the field, known for innovation, excellence, and fresh approaches to audience engagement. With over thirty years of experience in museums and Jewish cultural institutions, her track record of achievement is outstanding. I don’t think we could have found a better fit to build on the Museum’s strong trajectory and lead our talented team.”
“Lori Starr made an enormous contribution to Toronto while she led the Koffler,” says Matthew Teitelbaum, director of the Art Gallery of Ontario. “She moved inventive and galvanizing program into the community, while positioning important issues of our time into the public realm for active discussion. She did so with style, intelligence, and true commitment. She made our community stronger. I know she will have an important and sustaining impact on San Francisco. The cliché is true. Our loss is San Francisco’s gain.”
“I am delighted to be returning to California and San Francisco to work with the exceptional Board, staff, and volunteers of the Contemporary Jewish Museum,” says Starr. “The Museum, now in its fifth year in its beautiful and expressive jewel of a building, has distinguished itself as a welcoming place where visitors of all ages and walks of life can connect with one another through dialogue and shared experiences with the arts. It is absolutely poised to make an even greater impact through an increasingly vibrant and innovative repertoire of new, ever changing exhibitions and multidisciplinary arts programs of the highest quality.”
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