LOUISVILLE, KY.- The Speed Art Museum has added a key position to its Senior Leadership team and announced today that Abby Shue has been hired as the Chief Advancement and Programming Officer for the Museum. Shue will begin her new role at the Speed on Monday, March 25, 2019.

“Abby has spent a decade preparing for a position like this,” said Speed Director Stephen Reily. “Through her work at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, the Fund for the Arts, and graduating from the Executive M.B.A. program at Vanderbilt, Abby has learned to make arts organizations strong by building and supporting strong teams and by connecting donors and the public to their mission. I am excited that she will be joining us in inviting everyone to celebrate art, forever, at the Speed.”

"The ‘new’ Speed has done a remarkable job using its 90+ year legacy to change lives through the arts and become ever more relevant and accessible to the entire community,” said Shue. “I am honored to join a team that takes seriously not only its role to curate world-class exhibits, but also to create a welcoming space for all, to facilitate dialogue, build connections and create shared experiences in an increasingly divided world,” said Shue.

Abby Shue is currently Vice President of Development at the Fund for the Arts, where she leads a 6-person development team overseeing the Fund’s community united arts campaign with 17,000 corporate, workplace, individual and foundation donors supporting the region’s arts and cultural sector. With the board and staff at the Fund for the Arts, Abby helped lead the efforts to increase revenue by 15% in four years and the Fund achieved the highest national per capita giving of any peer organization, with per capita giving at three times the national average.

Christen Boone, President & CEO of the Fund for the Arts said, “At the Fund for the Arts, we work to advance this community through the power of the arts. Abby has been an incredible member of our team at the Fund for the Arts and we are excited to see her take on this exciting new leadership role at one of our community’s most treasured institutions. The Speed Art Museum is redefining the role of an art museum in community – building upon an incredible legacy and creating an inspiring future.”

Before joining the Fund for the Arts, Shue served in a variety of roles at The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, leading to her position as Vice President where she oversaw board relations, government relations, community relations, strategic planning, and management of a renowned contemporary art collection for a four-venue performing arts center.

In 2016, Shue graduated from the Vanderbilt University MBA program, where she was selected to receive the annual full-tuition scholarship for a competitively selected nonprofit executive. She received her undergraduate degree from Butler University in 2009. Shue has also completed several courses with The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Shue is actively involved in the Louisville community, currently serving on the board of Louisville Public Media and previously having served on Young Professionals Association of Louisville, Hope Scarves and Actors Theatre’s interACT program. She is a graduate of Leadership Kentucky and Ignite Louisville and is currently participating in Leadership Louisville. In 2012, Shue was named a Business First of Louisville Forty Under Forty honoree, and in 2017 was named to Business First of Louisville’s Top 20 Nonprofit Professionals.

“The Speed Museum is fortunate to gain Abby’s experience, skill, and energy,” said Brooke Brown Barzun, Chair of the Speed’s Board of Trustees. “Her understanding of every corner of our city’s arts eco system, as well as her passion for public engagement and investment of the arts will be a welcomed asset for the Speed.”

The Senior Leadership team at the Museum includes: Stephen Reily, Director; Evan McMahon, Chief of Staff to the Director; Paul Esselman, Chief Operating Officer; Erika Holmquist-Wall, Chief Curator; Steven Bowling, Chief Marketing Officer; Shannon Karol, Director of Education; and Emma Pridham, Human Resources.