Lansing Art Gallery director departs after 18 years for Michigan State fundraising job

Leadership at the Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center is changing as executive director Barb Whitney announced her departure following eight years at the head of the organization.

Whitney, who became executive director in 2014 after 10 years at the gallery, leaves April 1 for a new job as associate director of development for cultural arts at Michigan State University.

The position is a newly created role focused on fundraising for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum and Michigan State University Museum, including major donations of $50,000 and above.

“It’s incredibly bittersweet,” she said. “This has been a labor of love in just about every way I can think of. A part of my heart will always be with the gallery.”

Whitney most recently oversaw the gallery’s move last winter from its previous underground location to its sixth home inside the Knapp’s Centre at 300 S. Washington Square.

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Education Director Michelle Carlson will serve as acting executive director at the recommendation of Whitney, who described her as a strategic thinker who can stay calm during stressful times.

Carlson has worked at the gallery since 2017. Her term as acting director will run through the gallery’s fiscal year, and the board of directors is assessing next steps for a longer-term appointment as well as beginning the hiring process for a new education director. Carlson intends to apply for the permanent executive director job.

“I hope this is a good transition and that our community still supports the gallery, because it is more about the gallery,” she said. “We have to have powerful leaders in the roles, but it’s really about our work and what the gallery represents to the community.”

Whitney said a point of pride is leaving the gallery in financial stability after navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, an effort bolstered by public art program ArtPath and online stores for artists to sell their work.

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She took inspiration from former executive director Catherine Babcock, who worked to maintain the gallery’s nonprofit status during financial hardship in the 2008 economic financial crisis.

“I’m proud to leave the gallery in good stead,” Whitney said. “We’re an agency that’s been well over 50 years established in this community, built by community members and stewarded by them for decades. As executive directors, we’re really just shepherds for a time being.”

Contact reporter Annabel Aguiar at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @annabelaguiar.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Art Gallery director leaves for Michigan State fundraising job