Art Museum Forms Advisory Forum of Regional Leaders

The Art Museum recently established a new Community Leadership Council charged with helping the Museum better understand and serve the needs of residents in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. The Council will bridge the University and the region to inspire a citizenship that is more engaged in the visual arts.

Led by Director James Steward, this new advisory forum includes representatives from diverse area constituencies. Council members include Kristin Appelget, director, Princeton University Community and Regional Affairs; Kate Bech, CEO, Princeton Family YMCA; Stephen Cochrane, superintendent of schools, Princeton Public Schools, and Princeton Class of 1981; Jessica Durrie, co-owner, Small World Coffee, Princeton; Patricia Hart, executive director, Womanspace, Inc., Lawrenceville; Shing-Fu Hsueh, mayor of West Windsor Township; Martin Johnson, president, Isles Inc., Trenton, and Princeton Class of 1981; Nancy Kieling, community leader and former president and CEO, Princeton Area Community Foundation; Ram Kolluri, president, Global Investment Management, LLC, Princeton and West Windsor Township; Liz Lempert, mayor of Princeton; David Rago, president, Rago Auctions, Lambertville; David Tierno, community leader and past president of the Friends of the Princeton University Art Museum; Rev. Dr. John E. White, dean of student life and vice president for student relations, Princeton Theological Seminary, and former pastor, Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church; Nick Wilson, community leader and Princeton Class of 1951; and Richard Woodbridge, community leader, former mayor of Princeton Township, and Princeton Class of 1965.

“As the Museum grows, we feel increasingly the responsibility to be a compelling resource for communities across our region and across the state,” notes Director James Steward. “I am honored that these distinguished leaders have agreed to work with me to help make this Museum a force for good and a center for community building.”

The Community Leadership Council succeeds and builds upon the efforts of the Museum’s former Friends Board, established more than sixty years ago.