New Newfields CEO Colette Pierce Burnette talks about her plans, director search and more

Almost two months into her tenure as Newfields' CEO and president, Colette Pierce Burnette experienced what she called a magical moment.

It happened at Thursday's opening party for "We. The Culture" — the result of a two-year journey that was initially going to explore the Eighteen Art Collective's Black Lives Matter mural before changing course to show its members' individual works. Burnette met the artists, who she said felt like family. And she saw opportunities to embrace all communities and "little me's," as she put it, to learn and grow at Newfields.

"Anybody who has ridden along this journey with the trauma of Newfields, with its challenges with the incident, and us being jarred and shaken — that night was like a spark," said Burnette, referencing the 2021 job description controversy that ended up contributing to the exhibit's shift in focus.

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"There's a line in 'The Woman King' that says, 'You only need a spark,' and that was the spark to do something big, to do something monumental to change lives. There were all kinds of people there, and there was an energy in the room that you can't capture, and that's what really changes souls."

Burnette, who officially started in the role Aug. 1, calls this moment a beginning when she talks about the future of the museum, park and garden. Newfields shared news of her hire in May, and it was one of the most anticipated cultural leadership announcements in the city since Charles Venable had resigned 15 months earlier.

Burnette sat down with IndyStar on Monday to talk about why she wanted the job, which she called a divine moment that was meant to be; her background; her vision for the museum's mission; the search for a museum director; and more.

Burnette started her career in engineering

Burnette calls herself a child of the '60s — a staunch believer in public education who lists her graduation from John F. Kennedy High School in Cleveland on her resume.

The CEO's skill in math caught the eye of her high school English teacher, who drove Burnette to visit The Ohio State University. She fell in love with the campus and earned a bachelor's degree in industrial and systems engineering. She went on to work in the field and in information technology for the first 20 years of her career.

But Burnette said she'd chosen that path because the adults in her life had recommended it. She also hit a glass ceiling — what she calls a concrete ceiling for Black women — and decided to teach information technology at a community college in Washington.

"That was one of those, just like this, jump and grow your wings as you soar," she said.

The teaching job led her into an administrative position as chief information officer — and from there, she said she never looked back.

Her other schooling includes a Master of Science in Administration from Georgia College, graduating from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Management Development Program and receiving her Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Burnette has continued to teach as well, including a recent class on social justice in higher education in the doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin.

How her travels have shaped her worldview

Throughout the course of her career, the new CEO has lived in several places because of her husband's job. Burnette is married to retired Air Force Lt. Col. Daarel Burnette and has two adult children, Daarel II and Daana. Among the places she loved to live is Izmir, Turkey.

"My husband was in Sarajevo part of the time that we were stationed in Turkey, so it was just my two children, our Rottweiler and I there in Izmir," Burnette said. "The Turks took such good care of us, looked out for us the whole time."

When her husband received orders to return to the Pentagon, she said she was sorry because she'd hoped to stay longer.

Why Burnette wanted the job at Newfields

Burnette's path to the art and nature campus began with a friend's question over dinner: What are you going to do next? Having completed her work at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, Burnette was facing retirement — and stumbling over words, as she put it, when she tried to come up with the answer.

"I was doing this kind of self-reflection of what do I want to do, and I didn't have words for it. I knew I wanted to still do something that had opportunities to educate people. I'm really into what Dr. (Martin Luther) King calls building the beloved community," Burnette said. "And I am a social justice warrior. I've been that way as long as I can remember, really caring about what's right and good for people.

"So I knew I wanted to find some space to do that, and I love flowers and nature and art, but that wasn't in my atmosphere at that time, thinking about a career."

Her friend offered a connection to help. It ended up being someone at the consulting firm Korn Ferry, which worked with Newfields on the CEO search, Burnette said. The position fit her passions.

At first, news of the museum's controversial job post and Venable's subsequent resignation hadn't worked its way into her circles, she said, but her son had read about the institution.

That heightened Burnette's interest, leading to a deep-dive into researching the campus, Indianapolis and the art world.

"I wanted this job," she said. "I saw it as just a phenomenal opportunity to be a part of something so much bigger than myself."

The search for a museum director

The institution has engaged a search firm to find a museum director, Burnette said, but she didn't yet share the timeline for the hire. The role is part of a revamped executive structure announced under Venable in February 2021. Burnette will oversee the museum director and the Ruth Lilly Director of The Garden and Fairbanks Park. Jonathan Wright serves in the latter role.

Newfields' multi-point action plan — introduced in the wake of the job description that called to maintain the museum's "traditional, core, white art audience" while diversifying — also outlined the intent for a diversity executive to join the leadership team. In March, Board of Trustees Chair Darrianne Christian said they hadn't yet fully defined the position and were working with the Community Advisory Committee and diversity consultants to understand what's needed.

Ernest Gause, who is the vice president of human resources and chief people officer, is the interim chief diversity officer. On Monday, Burnette said the museum isn't currently seeking to fill the position. Gause joined Newfields early in 2022, and his job includes bringing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility into hiring and retention.

New leadership at Newfields: Art campus announces Colette Pierce Burnette as incoming president and CEO

That work remains top of mind and should be embedded in everyone's mindset and work, said Burnette, who highlighted that the role alone doesn't make an institution diverse.

"It's how people feel," she said. "We should be having inclusive activities because it's what we do, not because we're checking a box and someone's watching us to be sure we have, you know, two green things and four purple things and five yellow things, you see what I'm saying?"

Burnette's vision for what's next

When the new CEO talks about Newfields' future, she uses the phrases hard work and heart work. She explained it through the metaphor of how her husband dethatched their lawn. It looked destroyed, she said but grew back beautifully — unearthing what wasn't good and planting what was right.

Burnette also continues to return to the new International Council of Museums definition, which highlights inclusivity, sustainability, the need to operate with communities and knowledge sharing.

Moving forward, the new CEO is spending 120 days listening to inform her leadership. So far, she envisions opportunities to partner with nearby schools for curriculums around horticulture, curation, conserving art and more to spark interest for people who aren't usually in those career fields. A staff art exhibit also is in the works to build morale around its identity and creativity.

At her retirement celebration in Austin, Burnette said people noted that she changed the conversation about race in the city.

"But it was not me. I'm a vessel. I want to be that same kind of vessel here at Newfields," she said. "That's my personal mission is to lift Newfields to really serve Indianapolis in a grand, wonderful way. And it's going to take us time. I'm not naïve that we don't have challenges.

"Not everybody's going to love me. That's leadership. The tall trees get the wind. But we're just going to stay focused on the mission and hire people who are mission-minded."

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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New Newfields CEO talks about her plans, director search and more