Sandra Harris named director of OHIO’s Kennedy Museum of Art

ATHENS — The Kennedy Museum of Art (KMA) will have a new leader at its helm beginning July 1. Professional museum administrator Sandra Harris has been hired as executive director of KMA, taking the place of former director Ed Pauley, who served in that role from 2008 until last fall.

Harris most recently has served as executive director of American Women Artists and has an impressive resume in leadership for museum and cultural institutions across the country, including the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Arizona.

One of the primary reasons Harris was interested in joining KMA is the opportunity to return to work with students. She reflects that growing up she was surrounded by the arts, but her own professional career was deeply altered by her educational experience when “it all came together for me in a museum studies class in grad school at Arizona State.”

Harris explains she found her niche at museums in part due to the variety of needs required for success.

“What I love is that it combines education at the core, the art itself and its history. I also love the actual physical building and working with the public because every day is different,” she said. “As an administrator, I like knowing a little bit about everything and helping talented people…all the things I’ve always cared about come together!”

Reflecting on previous work as an educator herself, Harris says “it’s been really gratifying to see where students have gone, first seeing them get excited about what they might do with their careers and then helping them find that path. It’s a huge responsibility, but it’s so fun to work with students because they’re teaching you at the same time.”

Submitted by Ohio University