Harry Philbrick appointed Executive Director
We are pleased to announce that the Newport Art Museum has appointed Harry Philbrick as Executive Director. The nationwide search was led by MS&R Senior Search Consultant Dan Yaeger.
A native Rhode Islander whose career spans galleries and museums from London to Philadelphia, Philbrick has spent the last three decades as the leader of distinguished arts institutions such as The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum.
Philbrick is currently serving as the Interim Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum and previously served as Interim Director of the Fabric Workshop and Museum, where he led the artist-centered institution through a strategic restructuring. He will start work in Newport in mid-September, taking over from Interim Executive Director Ruth Taylor.
In 2016, Philbrick founded Philadelphia Contemporary, a visual and performance arts nonprofit that connected the community through place-based installations and programming. He served as Director until 2023, and in that time raised more than $10 million. Prior to that, he was Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum and Director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. At The Aldrich, Philbrick led a $9 million capital campaign to open a new building, helped grow the endowment from $9 million to nearly $30 million, and led the Museum’s renowned exhibition program.
Philbrick’s other professional roles include staff lecturer at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York, and head of the exhibition lecture program at Hayward Gallery in London. Philbrick has an MFA from the University of London.
“Harry is an extraordinary talent who will lead the Newport Art Museum into a future that honors the past yet remains innovative and relevant,” said Chair of the Board Ellie Voorhes. “This Museum has been a vibrant cultural hub in Newport for more than a century. Harry appreciates our legacy, understands our strategic plan, and has a strong vision for continued growth.”
“Art, creativity, and their power to bring people together have always been at the center of my life and career. The Newport Art Museum is uniquely positioned to foster those connections,” said Philbrick. “I am excited about the possibilities the Museum has to connect communities within and around Newport, and to make a national impact in the years to come.”