WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.- The Board of Trustees of the Delaware Art Museum announced the appointment of Danielle Rice as Executive Director. Dr. Rice succeeds Stephen T. Bruni, who officially retired March 31, and will begin full time on June 1, 2005. Melissa Mulrooney, who is serving as Interim Executive Director, will continue on through the end of June to insure a smooth executive transition and, most importantly, to guide the long awaited opening of the new Museum.

Susan Stalnecker, President of the Board comments, “We are especially pleased to welcome Danielle Rice to the Delaware Art Museum as we prepare to unveil a new Museum for the community, the region, and the nation. Dr. Rice brings exceptional qualifications as a distinguished advocate for arts education, community accessibility, and scholarship to this important leadership role.”

Dr. Rice joins the Museum following nineteen distinguished years at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. During her tenure there Dr. Rice served as Curator of Education (1986-1997), Senior Curator of Education (1997-2001), and Associate Director for Program since 2001. As Associate Director for Program, she oversaw the departments of Special Exhibitions, Education, Publications, the Library and the Archives. Dr. Rice has also headed the education departments of the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. She has over twenty-five years experience in designing and implementing innovative new programs to communicate art to the public, working with diverse community members and through community partnerships. She shares with the Delaware Art Museum a dedication to making museums more accessible, visitor friendly, and community minded.

Dr. Rice states, “I am delighted and deeply honored to have been selected as Director of the new Delaware Art Museum. With its unique collections of world-class English Pre-Raphaelite art, its superb holdings in modern American art, and its elegant and expansive new building, the Delaware Art Museum is ideally positioned to serve, inspire, and delight its community through enhanced exhibitions, installations and programs. I look forward with great anticipation to adding my skills and talents to those of an already very talented and committed group of individuals—the Board and the staff of the Delaware Art Museum—who have dared to dream big dreams and worked so hard to make these dreams a reality.”