June 28, 2024

Seattle Art Museum

Stulen

The Board of Trustees of the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) announced that Scott Stulen has been named the museum's new Illsley Ball Nordstrom director and CEO following an international search. Stulen will begin his new role on August 26, 2024. Since August 2016, Stulen has served as president and CEO of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to joining the Philbrook, Stulen was the inaugural curator of audience experiences and performance at the Indianapolis Museum of Art from 2014 to 2016. From 2008-2014, he was project director of mnartists.org, a critical arts writing platform at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stulen has a MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Minnesota, and BFA in Sculpture from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He also serves on several national, state and local boards. In his role at SAM, comprising the downtown Seattle Art Museum, the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the Seattle waterfront, Stulen will oversee the institution's artistic and educational programs and manage a staff of more than 300 people. Stulen assumes the leadership role open since the departure of Amada Cruz in October 2023. Kimerly Rorschach, SAM director and CEO from 2012-2019, returned to the museum as interim director and CEO in September 2023 and continued to serve as an advisor once her tenure ended in April 2024. Jeff Draeger, the museum's COO, has led the museum as interim director and CEO since April 2024.