The Board of the Morean Arts Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Howayda Affan as Executive Director effective March 4, 2019.
“We are thrilled to have this talented, enthusiastic and experienced professional as our next leader,” said Susan Reiter, Chair of the Morean Arts Center Board of Trustees. “Howayda brings a love of the arts as well as expertise in museum strategic planning, fundraising and community engagement. We look forward to working with her to shape and implement the Morean Arts Center’s vision for the future.”
New to St. Petersburg, Affan hopes to immediately begin making connections in the arts community and beyond that will lead to even stronger partnerships and program offerings at the Morean.
“The Morean’s mission, programs and values are exemplary,” Affan said. “And the City of St. Petersburg seems to be a community where the arts are not only a form of expression and joy but a way of life. I am thrilled and honored to lead the organization in its mission to connect people with art; to be able to broaden its reach, to continue to build on its 100-plus years of success and to enhance its role as both a cultural and community anchor.”
Affan earned her master’s degree in museum studies from Harvard University in 2009. She served as a Collections Manager & Assistant Curator, and later Assistant Director, at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Mass., where she was responsible for management and care of the Museum’s 20,000 artifacts, artworks and oral history collection, and the supervision of all operations and activities related to collections management. In 2015 she became Director of Development at the Museum of Science & History in Jacksonville, Fla. Most recently she was Director of Marketing & Communications at Angel Kids Pediatrics in Jacksonville.
“I have been able to leverage what each of those organizations has to offer as tools for community building, and have expanded the relevance of the organizations beyond the immediate community by developing and defining different modes of community engagement and developing opportunities across all ages and levels,” Affan said.
Affan said the Morean’s four locations—Morean Arts Center, Morean Center for Clay, Morean Morean Glass Studio and Chihuly Collection—uniquely position it to reach further and deeper into the community to attract businesses, new and emerging artists, children and professional artists.
“Through my lens, the Morean offers something for everyone,” Affan said. “With increased visibility and education, we will become a must-stop location for patrons and artists alike. I look forward to diving in, getting to know the St. Petersburg community, and working with the superb staff, trustees and all community partners who champion the Morean’s success to showcase, support and advance the mission of this unique organization.”
The Morean Arts Center, with roots dating back to 1917 as the Art Club of St. Petersburg, focuses on an innovative, community-oriented approach to art and art education. The mission of the Morean Arts Center is to connect people with art and to contribute to the economic development of the region. Operating under the Morean Arts Center are the Chihuly Collection, Morean Glass Studio and the Morean Center for Clay.
