Following a long search for new leadership, figures at the Singapore Art Museum have decided to suspend the hunt for a CEO for the facility. Instead, a variety of staff at the museum, which is under a major facelift, will answer to the board of directors. Since the head position for the facility has been vacant for so long, officials decided that the board will be sufficient leadership for the foreseeable future.
Critics say that a CEO of an art museum is a highly visible position, and without a physical individual to fill that position, a void will be present. Such leaders are usually responsible for fundraising efforts for museums, along with shaping and influencing the creative direction of their respective facilities. If potential donors don’t have a face to match with a facility, or a person they think they can reach out to, museums without CEOs might stand to lose essential funds to support their efforts in the community.
However, if the Singapore Art Museum is successful in its bid to survive and thrive without a traditional CEO position filled, perhaps other museums and art organizations in Singapore and throughout the world could take notes. It might be time to rethink leadership at such facilities from the top down, addressing whether museums should run like businesses, which do staff CEO positions. Is there a more effective way to successfully lead museums? Only time — and Singapore Art Museum’s example — will tell.
One position the Singapore Art Museum did fill was a director for its curatorial, programming, and publication efforts. June Yap will head the operations for the museum in this capacity, answering directly to the board of directors. Yap’s appointment to the position will enable other museum staff members to oversee other operational considerations for the museum. Though the CEO position at Singapore Art Museum will remain vacant for the time being, it will be business as usual at the museum, which has, thus far, run smoothly without the leadership position filled. As the facility is experiencing a revamping of its image that will last over the next four years, it is also still sponsoring art events and exhibitions at the portions of the facility that remain open. That means families and visitors to Singapore can still anticipate enjoying all the various offerings Singapore Art Museum has to give them.
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To read more about Singapore Art Museum’s new hire and leadership model, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/sam-ends-search-for-new-director-ceo.