Columbus Museum of Art names new CEO
Minto, educator for 20 years, starts on May 15
Brooke A. Minto — an arts administrator, historian and educator for 20 years — has been named the new executive director and CEO of the Columbus Museum of Art.
Minto, most recently the inaugural executive director of the nonprofit Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums, will begin her job in Columbus on May 15. She replaces Nannette V. Maciejunes, who retired in January after 20 years as the museum’s executive director. Minto will oversee a 155-person staff and the museum’s $13 million budget.
Minto was selected by the museum board after a national search led by search committee chair and Columbus Museum of Art Board President Pete Scantland.
“Brooke is an inspiring, engaging and proven leader, who can immediately elevate the Columbus Museum of Art by every key measure — institutionally, curatorially, financially and reputationally,” Scantland said. “Her expertise, natural curiosity, intuition and leadership acumen will all combine to simultaneously preserve our revered community-centric museum and raise its international profile, prospects and impact.”
Minto said that, while she knew of the Columbus Museum of Art, prior to the interview process she hadn’t spent much time in Columbus or Ohio.
“My perception of the museum is that it is very visitor-centered,” she said. “Columbus is one of the fastestgrowing cities in the Midwest and the museum has a tremendous opportunity to serve this growing community into the future.”
“I’m so excited for this next chapter, not just for myself but for the museum.”
At the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums, Minto was based in New York City and worked with the national organization to transform art museums into more equitable spaces of cultural engagement, especially tapping the power of Black trustees to diversify and govern their institutions.
“Over the course of her distinguished career, Brooke has demonstrated an exceptional ability to lead institutions in the right direction with a commitment to serving people and communities across the world,” said Ford Foundation President Darren Walker. “Her unwavering support of art and artists continues to inspire me, and I am certain she will leverage her decades of experience and love of the arts to bring the Columbus Museum of Art to new heights.”
Minto also served as managing director of the Advisory Board for the Arts, Washington, D.C. and New York; interim co-director and director of institutional advancement at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa, and executive director of Zeitz MOCAA Foundation USA, based in New York; chief advancement officer at the New Museum of Contemporary
Art in New York; deputy director for development and external affairs at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA); and director of development at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).
She began her museum career in the curatorial department of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. In discussing her background, Minto said she considers herself “a citizen of the world.”
Minto is a first-generation American born in New York City to Jamaican parents, who now live in south Florida. She is the middle child of three with two brothers.
Minto studied art history at Dartmouth College and received a master’s degree in modern art and critical studies from Columbia University.
Her academic and curatorial focus is contemporary art of the global African diaspora. She served as an adjunct lecturer in the department of art and art history at Florida International University in Miami. She has written and lectured on topics in the museum field, including exhibitions, collections, institutional advancement, and diversity and inclusion, and contributed essays and articles on contemporary art to exhibition catalogs and other publications. She is a regular visiting critic and juror for visual arts, architecture and film.
At the Columbus Museum of Art, Minto said, she will prioritize getting to know the staff and the Columbus community.
“I’ll probably spend my first several months on a deep listening tour — staff and the community at large — and envision what we might do collectively to propel the museum into the future,” she said. “I do think we need to spend time strengthening the museum’s national presence so that broader audiences can discover what is here.”
Museums of the same size and nature as the Columbus Museum of Art have two major challenges — budgeting and relevance, Minto said. “Staying relevant and engaging new audiences is always critical.”
In the news release announcing her appointment, she is quoted: “I am honored to lead an institution that is deeply embedded in its community, committed to positive social change and dedicated to nurturing creativity and imagination. I look forward to partnering with the staff, board and community to ensure that CMA remains a relevant and meaningful institution for generations to come.”
The Columbus Museum of Art, founded in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, is located at 480 E. Broad St. Its collection includes late 19th- and early 20th-century American and European art works. It has the world’s largest collections of works by Columbus-connected artists including George Bellows, Elijah Pierce and Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson.
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