Milwaukee Art Museum Launches Search for Next Executive Director
Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Marcelle Polednik, to step down in July 2025
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MILWAUKEE – Marcelle Polednik, longtime Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, has announced she will step down from her role effective July 31, 2025. Dr. Polednik has dedicated nearly a decade to the organization.
“Marcelle has driven a number of noteworthy accomplishments over her tenure, including navigating the challenges of the global pandemic, focusing our strategic agenda, and helping to prepare us for the next decade of artistic growth and innovation for our landmark institution,” said Jeff Yabuki, Chair of the Milwaukee Art Museum Board of Trustees. “We are grateful to Marcelle for her leadership as we turn to building this next chapter of success for the Museum.”
Over her tenure, the Museum has continued to expand its world-class collection, adding more than 3,100 works of art to the Museum’s permanent collection. Additionally, the Museum took important strategic steps forward, including adopting a new vision, mission, and set of core institutional values focused on ensuring the Museum is well-positioned to extend its leadership across existing and new generations of visitors. The Museum has continued to build its financial strength through an increased endowment, and has expanded its base of individual philanthropic support locally, regionally and nationally.
“Leading the Milwaukee Art Museum has been an extraordinary honor, but I believe the time has come for new leadership to guide its next chapter,” Polednik said. “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve built over the past nine years, and confident that the Museum is on a strong path forward—artistically, operationally and financially.”
A global search for the next Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum will be led by a search committee led by the Board’s Vice President and Chair Elect, Andy Nunemaker. The committee has engaged Russell Reynolds Associates to lead the national search process.
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About the Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum is an essential destination for art and architecture and a vital cultural resource that connects visitors to dynamic art experiences and one another. Housed in iconic buildings by Santiago Calatrava, Eero Saarinen, and David Kahler on a 24-acre lakefront campus, the Museum is Wisconsin’s largest art institution and home to both broad and deep collections, with exceptional holdings in American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; conceptual and minimalist art; prints and drawings; European art from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century; photography and new media; modern and contemporary design; folk and self-taught art; and twentieth-century Haitian art. A bold symbol of Milwaukee’s ambition and forward-thinking vision, the Museum is a place for community building, education, and celebration that fosters creativity, free speech, and critical discourse for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. For more information, visit mam.org.
