Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York Appoints Jenny Gibbs as Program Director of Art Business
Christine Kuan, CEO of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, announces the appointment of Jenny Gibbs as Director of the Master of Arts in Art Business Program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York. Gibbs is currently Executive Director of the Elmhurst Art Museum, and she was formerly a specialist at Christie’s and Dean at MassArt.
Kuan said, “Jenny Gibbs is a rare talent who brings to the Institute an invaluable blend of arts management expertise, industry insight, and academic leadership. Her background and experience will be critical to shaping the education of our next generation of art professionals in an increasingly dynamic art market which requires deft navigation of both commercial and non-commercial realms.”
On her appointment Gibbs said, “I am honored to join the faculty and leadership of Sotheby’s Institute of Art. The intersection of art and commerce has been an area of intellectual inquiry and professional practice for me for my entire career. If you have a passion for art and its markets, there is no more exciting place to be than Sotheby’s Institute of Art, which trains generations of professionals to be effective leaders in the art world, champions for artists, and trusted advisors for collectors.”
"Jenny Gibbs is a rare talent who brings to the Institute an invaluable blend of arts management expertise, industry insight, and academic leadership"
As Program Director, Gibbs will be a member of the Institute’s academic leadership, teaching and engaging with the art world on the Institute’s behalf. Gibbs will lead the Art Business program to ensure its vanguard position in the field of art market studies, and to develop new courses and programs which leverage the significant resources and network of the Institute. Gibbs will also focus on building upon the Institute’s internationally respected faculty and innovative curriculum to expand the educational impact and career opportunities for its students and alumni.
Gibbs joins Sotheby’s Institute with more than twenty-five years of leadership in the arts and higher education. At the Elmhurst Art Museum, Gibbs developed new exhibitions and public programs, increasing museum revenue from attendance by more than 400% over two years. She successfully secured major gifts and grants, including two significant awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and curated exhibitions, including the most recent, “Sense of Place.”
As a specialist at Christie’s, as the head of NYU’s Appraisal Studies Program in Fine and Decorative Arts, as graduate faculty teaching “Artists Professional Practice,” and as a museum director, Gibbs works within the center of the art world—carefully considering the role of the market in what art is created, exhibited, traded, conserved, and valued as both cultural and economic capital.
Prior to Elmhurst, Gibbs served as Dean of Graduate Programs at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she oversaw the development and accreditation of new graduate programs, increased enrollment, and developed and taught courses, including: “Artists Professional Practice: A History and Practicum.” Before MassArt, Gibbs was the Executive Director of the Lacoste School of the Arts in France with Bard College, and the Director of New York University’s Appraisal Studies Program in Fine and Decorative Arts. Gibbs has also worked as a research assistant at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and as an Old Master Paintings and Estates and Appraisals specialist with Christie's. She holds an MA in Art History / Interdisciplinary Studies from New York University and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.
In her new role beginning in August 2017, Gibbs will continue to oversee the restoration of Mies van der Rohe’s McCormick House (1952) and upcoming exhibitions, including “Mies in Chicago” curated by Barry Bergdoll, “The Human Touch: Selections from the RBC Wealth Management Art Collection,” and an exhibition of new work by Chicago artist, Hebru Brantley at Elmhurst Art Museum.