CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art has announced the promotion of three members of its executive leadership team to the position of deputy director: John Easley, deputy director and chief philanthropy officer; Heather Lemonedes, deputy director and chief curator; and Cyra Levenson, deputy director and head of public and academic engagement.
“I am extremely fortunate to work with a highly accomplished seven-member team of senior executives, but it has been several years since I have had a deputy,” said William Griswold, director of the CMA. “John, Heather and Cyra are outstanding and talented museum professionals, and I’m pleased to recognize the roles they play, together with the scope of their responsibilities, with their appointment to the position of deputy director. As members of our executive management team, they’ve been major contributors to the development and implementation of our strategic plan, Making Art Matter: A Strategic Framework for Our Second Century. Their appointments will help position us to accomplish some of the most ambitious goals of the plan, which support the creation of transformative experiences through art, both within as well as outside the walls of the museum.”
John Easley is the guiding architect of the museum’s fundraising and external relations programs. He provides strategic leadership for marketing and communications, as well as for fund-development programs to support and strengthen the museum’s cultural and educational mission. He works with colleagues, board members and volunteers to develop fundraising goals and strategies that broaden community connections and encourage philanthropic investment in the museum. Easley’s recent accomplishments include the restructuring of the museum’s Philanthropy and External Relations Division to align staffing and resources with the strategic plan’s objectives, thus enhancing the division’s team-based culture while achieving best practices in all areas of development and communications.
Heather Lemonedes supervises 18 curators, working closely with them and the director to strengthen the museum’s celebrated permanent collection and to enhance its presentation. In addition, she oversees the Conservation Department, Department of Collections Management, and Ingalls Library and Archives. She partners with Cyra Levenson to interpret the museum’s collection and to administer the institution’s long-standing joint program in art history with Case Western Reserve University. Since becoming chief curator in May 2016, Lemonedes has hired five new curatorial staff members and played a key role in augmenting the collection with nearly 700 new works through both purchase and gift. Most recently, she curated the exhibition Recent Acquisitions 2014–2017, on view through June 7 in the Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery.
Cyra Levenson oversees the interpretation of the museum’s collection, helping to foster the public’s active, meaningful engagement with art. Her new title, head of public and academic engagement, reflects the CMA’s focus on making connections with all audiences. This effort includes managing public programs, art studio classes and K–12 education, as well as collaborating with colleges and universities. Levenson’s recent accomplishments include supervising the creation of the museum’s Diversity Leadership Initiative, a citywide effort to address the long-standing lack of diversity in the museum profession. She has also played a key role in launching a community engagement initiative to activate the museum’s extended outdoor campus and Fine Arts Garden. The reorganized Division of Public and Academic Engagement includes four new director-level appointments: director of public programs, director of interpretation, director of learning and engagement, and assistant director of academic engagement.
All three deputy director appointments went into effect on March 19, 2018.
Members of the museum’s executive leadership team also include Jane Alexander, chief information officer; Ed Bauer, chief financial officer; Heidi Strean, director of exhibitions and publications; and Jeffrey Strean, director of design and architecture.
