The Delaware Art Museum’s Board of Trustees has appointed a new executive director with a track record of building and turning around arts venues in the Washington, D.C. area.
Sam Sweet will take the post of executive director and CEO of the mueum, effective July 1.
Sweet will relocate to Wilmington from the Washington, D.C. Area.
“We are extremely energized about the future of the Delaware Art Museum,” said Roberts W. Brokaw III, board president and chair of the Search Committee. “The appointment of a bold cultural leader like Sam Sweet to guide our museum into the future starts a new and exciting chapter in our history. During his 20-year career, Sam has demonstrated a keen ability not only to drive economic growth and community development, but also to improve education and quality of life in the communities he and his organizations have served.”
The mueum had been struggling in the past decade from a heavy debt load and a backlash from the sale of paintings within the small art museum community.
The museum was forced sell off a few of its well-known works to pay off the crushing debt load brought on by a poorly executed expansion program that coincided with the loss of long-time corporate supporters.
The museum has operated without a permanent executive director during the past few years, due in large part to the sales process.
The museum worked with the executive nonprofit search firm Kittleman & Associates to conduct a national search. Sweet was unanimously approved as the Board of Trustees’ first choice candidate from a large number of qualified applicants.
“We view Sweet to be the perfect choice for the Delaware Art Museum,” Brokaw said. “He fully grasps our organization’s potential and is wholly aligned with the board’s vision for moving the museum forward.”
With the sale out of the way and the economy improving, the museum experienced 14 percent growth in attendance and a 30 percent increase in the number of museum donors in 2015 compared to 2014.
This growth is attributed to the Museum’s strategic focus on growing community-based programs, events, and partnerships with local schools and a string of popular exhibitions, including Dream Streets: Art in Wilmington 1970 – 1990, which documented and celebrated Wilmington’s artistic heritage, and the internationally-celebrated exhibition, Poetry in Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelite Art of Marie Spartali Stillman.
“I am inspired by the museum’s collections and programs, but most of all, by the passion and support of its staff, volunteers, donors, and Members,” said Sweet. “Guided by the founders’ vision to connect people to and through art, I believe we can continue to grow the museum and bolster its place as a cultural beacon and civic anchor. I am humbled to serve this community and build on the Delaware Art Museum’s artistic vitality, spark its dynamic growth, and ensure its financial stability for a successful and sustainable future for generations to come.”
As Executive Director at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., he raised funds to eliminate the organization’s building debt while launching a number of critically-acclaimed music and theatre programs.
During his tenure as the Managing Director of the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, Sweet helped the theatre transition from an operation in a renovated garage with a $1.8 million budget to a $16 million complex with a $6 million budget.
He also contributed to the success of The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., helping it to become one of the largest nonprofit theaters in the country. From 2008 – 2009 he served as Chief Operating Officer for the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art and Design, where he rebuilt the organization’s management capacity and structure.
Sweet currently teaches in George Mason University’s Masters in Arts Management program and owns a consulting practice that aids nonprofits in building organizational capacity.
He has served on the boards of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Improvement District, Arlington Economic Development Commission, Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, and Leadership Greater Washington, and was a founding board member of the Cultural Development Corporation.
Sweet holds a master’s degree in business administration from Virginia Tech and a bachelor of arts degree in art history from Columbia University.
