Lacy Schutz appointed Interim Executive Director

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Lacy Schutz as the Interim Executive Director at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) Cincinnati. Senior Search Consultant Dan Yaeger led the national search. Schutz will begin her new role on May 18.

Schutz brings nearly twenty years of cultural-institution leadership to the role, with a track record of advancing artistic ambition alongside organizational and financial strength. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of ATHR Gallery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, one of the leading contemporary art galleries in the Gulf region. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director of the Shaker Museum in New York, where she stabilized operations, rebuilt donors and community trust, and launched a transformative capital campaign. She has also held senior leadership roles at the Museum of the City of New York.

“We are genuinely thrilled to welcome Lacy to CAC,” said Emily Kokenge and Rick Michelman, co-presidents of CAC’s Board of Trustees. “She understands what makes CAC singular, and she has the experience to protect that while building the foundation this institution needs to take its next leap. We couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead.”

Schutz has a deep commitment to the civic role of contemporary art institutions and to CAC’s history of courageous programming. “CAC has been making bold choices since 1939,” Schutz said. “It has shown work that wasn’t safe, stood its ground when that mattered, and earned a particular kind of trust that very few institutions can claim. I am coming to Cincinnati to help build on that, to strengthen the foundation that makes the risk-taking possible, and to make sure this place continues to be what it has always been: somewhere the future gets rehearsed.”

CHIEF CURATOR
Application Deadline: Applications are no longer being accepted

Daryl Ward appointed Executive Director

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Daryl Ward, Ph.D., as the new Executive Director of The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum (formerly the Polk Museum) at Florida Southern College. Senior Search Consultant Dana Friis-Hansen led the national search. 

Ward has served as the Interim Executive Director since June 2025. He will officially take on the Executive Director position on March 2.

Ward is an established figure in the regional arts community. He worked in Polk County Public Schools for 32 years, including seven years as principal of Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland, before retiring in 2020.

 After a brief stint at Southeastern University, in 2022 Ward became Executive Director of the Polk Arts and Cultural Alliance, which is the nonprofit organization that advocates for local arts and culture entities and oversees the Polk Arts and Culture Hall of Fame.

Ward holds a doctorate from the University of South Florida, and he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Florida State University and a Master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. A photographer who has exhibited his work publicly, Ward also serves as an adjunct professor in the education department at Florida Southern College.

As Interim Executive Director, Ward oversaw such initiatives as the Ela’s Forest project, a memorial sculpture honoring a local family affected by domestic violence, and the FSC Voices Symposium, which pairs Florida Southern faculty expertise with exhibitions at the Museum.

After considering “a strong pool of candidates,” Florida Southern President Jeremy Martin decided that Ward should become the full-time leader. He said, “As we were interviewing candidates, I found that I was in effect asking, ‘Will you continue the great work that Dr. Ward has been doing?’ When I passed that compliment on to Dr. Ward, we discussed how deeply invested he had become in the Museum in recent months.” Martin added: “From there, it became clear that we had the right leader in place — someone who understands The AGB, values its mission, and is committed to advancing the arts at Florida Southern and throughout our community.”