The Queens Museum will continue carving out its plan to become a world-class institution under new leadership come Jan. 1.
The museum’s board of trustees selected experienced art professional Laura Raicovich as its new president and executive director on Thursday, following a national search.
Raicovich has been the director of global initiatives at nonprofit Creative Time, an arts advocacy organization, since 2012 and was chosen to lead the institution in Flushing Meadows Corona Park because of her vision for the future of the museum.
“Laura has spent the past two decades strengthening arts institutions, realizing the visions of artists and engaging diverse constituencies, and we are excited that she will be leading the Queens Museum,” said board chair Peter Meyer. “Our shared philosophy on the future of the museum, belief in the power of the arts to exact positive change, and dedication to making the arts relevant to all audiences made her the right person to move the museum forward.”
Raicovich has a bachelor’s degree in both art and political science from Swarthmore College and a master of arts in liberal studies from The Graduate Center, City University of New York.
She also worked at the Dia Art Foundation, advancing to deputy director during her tenure, and as the senior publicist of the Guggenheim Museum. Raicovich was also a curator of public art for the Parks Department.
Former Queens Museum head director Tom Finkelpearl was courted away by Mayor Bill de Blasio in May to be the city’s commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs, months after he oversaw the completion of a $68 million makeover of the museum, which reopened in October 2014.
Raicovich said her goal is to propel the museum into the future as an international destination.
“Looking forward, pairing engagement and innovation with exceptional artistic production will allow the Queens Museum to occupy a unique place in the pantheon of cultural offerings in New York City, to become an international model, and to serve all of Queens as a world-class art museum,” she said.
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