Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg announces interim executive director
Just a few weeks after executive director and CEO Kristen A. Shepherd’s resignation, The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg announced Tuesday that Anne-Marie Russell is the interim executive director.
Russell was formerly the executive director of Architecture Sarasota, an organization which “stewards the legacy of the Sarasota School of Architecture and provides a forum for the education, advocacy and celebration of good design in the global built environment,” according to its website.
She was the inaugural executive director of the Sarasota Art Museum and previously the executive director and chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson. She received a bachelor of arts in cultural anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a masters in art history from the University of Arizona.
“Under Anne-Marie’s leadership, we will continue to evolve the MFA to serve as the dynamic cultural destination that the community of St. Petersburg and beyond, knows and loves,” Dimity Carlson, chairperson of the board of trustees, said in a news release. “Anne-Marie’s experience as an entrepreneurial leader, her training in art history and anthropology, and her rigorous connoisseurship skills bring a unique perspective to the largest encyclopedic museum in Florida.”
Russell said in the release that she is honored to join the museum and looks forward to working with the board, staff, members and constituents. Her first day is Thursday.
“The ability to share my expertise with such an extraordinary museum, one that stands amidst a rich landscape of cultural institutions in St. Petersburg, is thrilling,” she said.
