On December 18, the Queens Museum of Art lost a great friend when Harold Snyder passed away. His loss is one that will reverberate through many parts of the world and on behalf of the Museum family I would like to express my sincerest condolences to Harold’s wife Tamar, children Beryl, Brian and Jay, and to all those to whom Harold was so close.
Harold joined the board of trustees of the Queens Museum in 2004, coming to us the way most trustees do - on the recommendation of another member of the board. From day one, Harold was a dedicated board member, at the museum for exhibition openings, meetings, special events and any other instance he felt his input or presence could be beneficial. His energy and dedication were steadfast. Despite that fact that he was the most senior member of the board, already in his eighties when he joined, he always had very fresh ideas and had the uncanny ability to introduce them at just the right time.
Harold had a very full life and continuously found a way to draw from it when it came to shedding some light on a situation we were facing. His service in the Army, in the business world, as a family man and as a citizen of the world seemed to provide him with a large enough pool from which to draw sagely advice. Regardless of what was happening in his life, if he felt that his vast experiences or trove of contacts could be of any advantage to the museum, Harold would offer his services.
While he didn’t live in Queens, Harold often told me of how he found the multicultural melting pot of the borough so inspiring. It was not a secret that he was a proud supporter of Israel and he thought that Israel, and the world, could look at Queens as a model and learn about diversity and harmony. He saw the myriad ethnic communities as a microcosm of the world, and the Queens Museum’s dedication to cross-cultural dialogue and programming as an echo of his own vision of what might be the only solution to many of the world’s problems communication and understanding.
Harold believed in the mission of the Queens Museum and was always concerned that more of the public didn’t know about what we were doing. His contributions to discussions of how we could increase visibility were always valuable and we will keep his advice in mind as we move forward with our expansion project and beyond.
The board and staff of the Queens Museum of Art will miss Harold Snyder and wish all the best to his family.
Tom Finkelpearl is Executive Director of the Queens Museum of Art
