NEW YORK, NY.- Adam D. Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, has announced the promotion of three of the Museum’s senior staff members to create a new management structure and policy-making team. In consultation with the Director, and working collaboratively with other senior staff, this group is helping to lead the institution as it embarks on a pivotal new chapter in its history.

“At this exciting time of growth and transformation at the Whitney, as we prepare to create a new museum facility in downtown Manhattan, we are extremely fortunate to have the talents of Donna De Salvo, John Stanley, and Alexandra Wheeler,” said Mr. Weinberg. “Their inspiring leadership, strong and wide-ranging management skills, and deep knowledge of every aspect of museum work are absolutely essential as we build the Whitney’s future and ensure that the Museum continues to serve art, artists, and the public.”

JOHN S. STANLEY, Chief Operating Officer
John S. Stanley became Deputy Director of the Whitney in August 2008. As Chief Operating Officer, he will lead the Museum’s strategic planning effort and oversee the process of implementing it. Stanley has general responsibility for museum-wide operations, acting as administrative liaison with museum staff, departments, trustees, the community, and external contacts. Stanley oversees exhibitions and collections management, marketing and communications, visitor services, publications, human resources, administration, the Trustee office, finance, retail, food service, IT and legal services. Stanley came to the Whitney from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he served from 1995 to 2008 as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director for Programs and Services. Stanley began his museum career in 1979 at the Toledo Museum of Art and served as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy/Assistant Director there from 1987 to 1995.

DONNA DE SALVO, Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Programs
In her new post as Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Programs, Donna De Salvo will work closely with the Director to deliver a holistic vision for the Whitney, extending from the highest quality artistic program to the design of the Whitney’s new building. De Salvo has overall responsibility for the integration of the museum’s programs with its artistic mission and acts as curatorial liaison with trustees, artists, the public, and press. De Salvo continues to oversee the curatorial department and the Whitney’s Independent Study Center, with responsibility for exhibitions, collection displays, acquisitions, and scholarly initiatives. She is currently co-curating, with David Kiehl, Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection, which will open at the Whitney on February 10, 2011. De Salvo joined the Whitney in 2004 as Curator of the Permanent Collection and Associate Director for Programs and was appointed the Museum’s first Chief Curator in 2006. Formerly a Senior Curator at Tate Modern in London, De Salvo was part of the team that opened the institution in 2000. She was a curator at the Dia Art Foundation from 1981 to 1986; Curator-at-Large at the Wexner Center for the Arts; the Robert Lehman Curator at the Parrish Art Museum; and Adjunct Curator for the Andy Warhol Museum. De Salvo has organized exhibitions, lectured, and authored catalogues and essays on a wide array of international figures, including Roni Horn, Ed Ruscha, Anish Kapoor, Cy Twombly, Mark Wallinger, Lee Bontecou, Robert Gober, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, John Chamberlain, Lawrence Weiner, Ray Johnson, and Giorgio Morandi, among others.

ALEXANDRA WHEELER, Deputy Director for Development
Alexandra Wheeler continues to lead the Museum's comprehensive development efforts, which includes overseeing individual and corporate memberships, special events, corporate sponsorships, foundation and government grants, major gifts, and stewardship programs. Working closely with the Director and Trustee leadership, Wheeler also oversees the Museum's Capital Campaign, which is responsible for raising funds to build the Whitney’s new downtown building. Wheeler has more than twenty years of experience in fundraising and non-profit arts management, including a previous tenure at the Whitney. From 1995 to 2000 she served as Campaign Manager and Director of Development at the Museum, overseeing a successful $50 million capital drive. Prior to returning to the Whitney in 2007 as the Associate Director for Development, she was Director of Major Gifts at Cambridge in America, supporting a £1 billion 800th Anniversary Campaign for Cambridge University. Previous leadership positions include Director of Development at Exit Art, where she created a professional development program, and Executive Director of the Fund for Dance. She began her career in the arts in 1988 at the Foundation for the Joffrey Ballet.