Frick Executive Director Robin Nicholson to Become Executive Director/CEO of Telfair Museums
The Frick Pittsburgh recently announced that Robin Nicholson will be leaving his position as Executive Director in February 2019 to become Executive Director/CEO of Telfair Museums in Savannah, Ga. Mr. Nicholson began his four-year tenure as the third director of the Frick in late 2014.
“It is a bittersweet moment because I have cherished every day at the Frick and enjoyed the opportunity to work at an amazing, unique, and beautiful museum. I believe I leave the Frick in an exceptionally strong position in terms of a vision for the future and a reputation that has grown exponentially over the last four years. I would like to thank the board and staff for their incredible support,” said Mr. Nicholson.
Chip Burke, Chair of the Frick’s Board of Trustees remarked, “The Board is most grateful to Robin for the job he has done. While the Frick has always been a superb institution, under Robin’s leadership it has grown in membership, programming, and visitation. He leaves the organization at its strongest point in its history. In addition to his strengths as a director, we are very fond of Robin as a person. He will be missed and we wish him great and continued success at the Telfair Museums and beyond.”
Mr. Nicholson's achievements at the Frick include the completion of a $15 million capital campaign and museum expansion on budget and ahead of schedule and raising more than $16 million. In 2016, he secured additional major funding, including a $1 million grant for exhibitions and accessibility, the largest non-capital gift ever received by the Frick. He also developed and implemented the museum’s first-ever comprehensive strategic planning exercise, with twin goals of five-year and 25-year planning.
Additionally, under Mr. Nicholson's leadership, the Frick built new and diverse audiences with the museum's focus on fashion exhibitions and programs. In 2016, the Frick’s presentation of Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe attracted more visitors than any other exhibition presented at the museum in the previous decade. Killer Heels’ success was followed by Undressed: A History of Fashion in Underwear, a highly popular exhibition organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum for which the Frick was the exclusive North American venue. And the exhibition Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, presented at the Frick in the spring and summer of 2018, drew nearly 48,000 visitors -- far more than any show in the museum’s history.
Mr. Burke said, “The Board of Trustees looks forward to a nationwide search to attract a candidate that can build upon and expand the vision and strategic plan that have been laid out for the next several years. We will be working with Robin over the next few weeks to assure an orderly transition before his departure in February.”
Chip Burke, Chair of the Frick’s Board of Trustees remarked, “The Board is most grateful to Robin for the job he has done. While the Frick has always been a superb institution, under Robin’s leadership it has grown in membership, programming, and visitation. He leaves the organization at its strongest point in its history. In addition to his strengths as a director, we are very fond of Robin as a person. He will be missed and we wish him great and continued success at the Telfair Museums and beyond.”
Mr. Nicholson's achievements at the Frick include the completion of a $15 million capital campaign and museum expansion on budget and ahead of schedule and raising more than $16 million. In 2016, he secured additional major funding, including a $1 million grant for exhibitions and accessibility, the largest non-capital gift ever received by the Frick. He also developed and implemented the museum’s first-ever comprehensive strategic planning exercise, with twin goals of five-year and 25-year planning.
Additionally, under Mr. Nicholson's leadership, the Frick built new and diverse audiences with the museum's focus on fashion exhibitions and programs. In 2016, the Frick’s presentation of Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe attracted more visitors than any other exhibition presented at the museum in the previous decade. Killer Heels’ success was followed by Undressed: A History of Fashion in Underwear, a highly popular exhibition organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum for which the Frick was the exclusive North American venue. And the exhibition Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, presented at the Frick in the spring and summer of 2018, drew nearly 48,000 visitors -- far more than any show in the museum’s history.
Mr. Burke said, “The Board of Trustees looks forward to a nationwide search to attract a candidate that can build upon and expand the vision and strategic plan that have been laid out for the next several years. We will be working with Robin over the next few weeks to assure an orderly transition before his departure in February.”