LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced today the election of two new chairs of the board of trustees, Antony P. Ressler and Elaine P. Wynn. Mr. Ressler has served on LACMA’s board since 2005 and has acted as vice chair of the board and co-chair of the Finance Committee. Ms. Wynn joined LACMA’s board in 2011. They assume leadership of the board as the museum furthers its collaboration with Los Angeles County on the creation of a new building to replace four aging facilities on LACMA’s east campus.
Mr. Ressler and Ms. Wynn succeed co-chairs Andy Gordon, elected in 2007, and Terry Semel, elected in 2009. During their tenure, the museum doubled the size of its campus with the addition of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) (2008) and the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion (2010) and the installation of large-scale sculptures by Chris Burden, Michael Heizer, Tony Smith, and others. In this period, the museum also doubled its exhibition program, acquired more than 20,000 works of art, and doubled its attendance to over 1.2 million visitors annually. Out of the 53 voting Trustees, 34 have joined the board since 2007. The museum also expanded its Art+Film initiative and its annual Collectors Committee event under their leadership, with Mr. Semel instrumental in building relations with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and their future museum adjacent to LACMA. Both Mr. Gordon and Mr. Semel will remain on the board with the title Co-Chairs Emeriti.
“Tony Ressler and Elaine Wynn are both dynamic and successful business leaders and passionate philanthropists who have shown tremendous dedication to LACMA and its future,” said Andy Gordon and Terry Semel in a joint statement. “We are proud to have seen this museum through a dramatic transformation in the last eight years. Building on that momentum, Tony and Elaine will lead us into an exciting, ambitious future.”
“Our gratitude to Andy Gordon and Terry Semel cannot be overstated,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. “Their leadership and generosity have made a lasting impact on the museum and the community. And we couldn’t be more excited for the next phase of LACMA’s evolution, to be overseen by Tony Ressler and Elaine Wynn. Their professional and philanthropic expertise will guide us through our next chapter.”
In a joint statement, Antony P. Ressler and Elaine P. Wynn said, “LACMA is a museum of international renown as well as a gathering place of great value to so many people here in Los Angeles. We are grateful to LACMA’s board for their support of this institution, and for the faith they have put in us as we take on this responsibility and opportunity.”
The total number of voting Trustees on LACMA’s board is 53, plus an additional 13 individuals honored as Life Trustees.
Antony P. Ressler cofounded Ares Management LLC in 1997, an asset management firm with approximately $87 billion in AUM with a focus on alternative assets managed through a variety of funds and investment vehicles. Ares has approximately 800 employees with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Stockholm, and Shanghai.
Mr. Ressler serves as a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and as a board member of Georgetown University. Mr. Ressler is a founding board member and the board co-chair of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools (“Alliance”). Founded in 2004 with the simple conviction that every student can graduate from high school and succeed in college, Alliance has grown to 26 free, public charter middle and high schools serving approximately 11,000 students from the poorest communities with historically underperforming schools. He is also one of the founding members of the board and co-finance chair of the Painted Turtle Camp, a Southern California–based organization created to serve children dealing with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.
Mr. Ressler received his BSFS from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three sons.
Elaine P. Wynn cofounded and served as director of Wynn Resorts from 2000 through April 2015, guiding the company’s expansion from the opening of Wynn Las Vegas in April 2005 and Wynn Macau in September 2006 to the unveiling of Encore in December 2008. Previously, she served in a similar capacity, cofounding and directing Mirage Resorts from 1976 to 2000.
In addition to establishing herself as a savvy business leader, Elaine is a dedicated crusader for children’s welfare and an influential philanthropist. She serves as board chair of Communities in Schools, the oldest, most successful dropout prevention organization in the nation. In 2011, she was appointed by Nevada’s governor to cochair a Blue Ribbon Education Reform Task Force that resulted in the enactment of new reform legislation. In January 2015, she was appointed to serve a second twoyear term on the Nevada State Board of Education and has been elected by the board to serve as president of that body. In recognition of her long-standing commitment to the arts, Elaine received a Presidential appointment to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Board of Trustees in 2010.
Born and raised in New York City, Elaine graduated from George Washington University in 1964 with a BA in political science. She resided in Washington, D.C., before moving to Las Vegas in 1967.
