COLLEGEVILLE, PA.- Ursinus College announces the appointment of Charles Stainback as the new Director of the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Mr. Stainback’s extensive experience,” said Ursinus College President Bobby Fong. Stainback currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Norton Museum of Art, the largest art museum in Florida and one of the state’s major cultural institutions. Prior to that appointment, he served as the William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography for the Norton.

Stainback was the founding Director of Skidmore College’s Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. As Dayton Director of the Tang, his exhibitions responded to cultural and educational needs of the college and surrounding community. At the Tang he helped secure a major grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. He was also a Professor of Liberal Studies at Skidmore.

According to Senior Vice President for Advancement Jill Marsteller, who chaired the search committee, “Charlie will bring fresh ideas and an innovative approach to exhibitions while also reaching out as a partner to the faculty and students on campus. Ursinus will benefit from Charlie’s insights, talent and experience, and he will be embraced by the Museum’s wide circle of friends both on and off campus.”

His areas of expertise are photography and contemporary art. “I am delighted to be joining the Ursinus community and returning to the world of College museums,” says Stainback. “The Berman is regarded as one of the nation’s finest small college art museums and I look forward to helping it grow and evolve.”

He previously served as Distinguished Visiting Graduate Professor in the Department of Photography/Film at Virginia Commonwealth University as well as Director of Exhibitions for the International Center of Photography in New York and Director of the International Center of Photography Midtown in New York. He holds a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the Visual Studies Workshop of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Stainback will be on the Ursinus campus part-time through March 31, and he will start full-time April 1.