Maryhill Museum of Art announces Amy Behrens as new Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
A new era for Maryhill Museum of Art is about to begin with dedication to the culture of the next generation of visitors and future donors, broadening its programs and exhibits to engage new audiences.
From Maryhill Museum of Art
By Amy Hunter, Weinstein PR
Goldendale, WA June 26, 2023 — Maryhill Museum of Art, one of the most fascinating cultural destinations in the Pacific Northwest, is announcing the appointment of Amy Behrens as executive director and chief executive officer following a search process by Hagel Executive Search. Behrens succeeds Colleen Schafroth, who is retiring.
“We selected Amy Behrens to lead Maryhill Museum of Art into the next era because of her remarkable experiences positioning a regional museum and landmark to elevate interpretive dialogue among diverse audiences,” said Maryhill Museum of Art Board President Laura Muehleck of Yakima, Washington. “With her leadership, Maryhill will continue to preserve our permanent artistic and historic collections – and broaden our programs with a rich array of exhibits and enrichment opportunities that will engage new audiences and cultivate multigenerational membership commitment.”
Behrens joins Maryhill Museum of Art in August 2023 after serving as executive director at Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, a nationally-registered historic site and visitor destination for arts, education, and botanical gardens in Southern California. During her tenure, annual membership subscriptions more than doubled and cultural programs grew and diversified from less than 50 to nearly 150 events annually. Behrens successfully navigated organizational and financial pathways to stability for the nonprofit during critical business interruptions due to COVID-19 and a landslide. She increased the operating budget by nearly half a million dollars over a four-year period and achieved Casa Romantica’s highest-ever fundraising revenues.
“I was drawn to Maryhill Museum of Art because what can be imagined and created here, alongside the striking rugged beauty of the Columbia Gorge, can be realized nowhere else – innovation here is a product of the place,” said incoming Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Amy Behrens. “This museum’s extraordinary collections and landmarks are poised to empower unspoken generations of visitors to think critically and create personally-relevant connections. My priorities, shared by the Maryhill Museum Board, are to deepen our educational programs which are the heart of our mission, renew connections with our Gorge communities, improve our historic infrastructure, and strengthen the financial sustainability of this wonderful museum.”
Behrens previously held positions as interim associate director of Ace Gallery, one of the largest gallery-held collections of blue-chip fine art in the western United States, and gallery manager of River Gallery (formerly Carl E. Smith Gallery) in Los Angeles and Laguna Beach. As a complement to her arts administration skill set, she has also held management roles in marketing and branding. Behrens holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Visual Communication from Laguna College of Art and Design.
As a member of the Orange County Arts Agency, Behrens curated artistic and interpretive exhibits highlighting Casa Romantica’s permanent collection and archives. An interpretive exhibition curated for the John Wayne International Airport in 2019-20 was seen by up to six million visitors.
Behrens established partnerships with public-private agencies such as the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana, the Orange County Public Library System, and the Vietnamese American Association of Letters and Arts to engage diverse audiences with supportive, relevant cultural programs and no-cost learning and scholarship opportunities. She led initiatives to make the visitor experience more convenient and inclusive with strategic adoption of digital applications, multilingual way finding, and ADA capital improvements as well as new programs and marketing campaigns to retain underrepresented visitors to the cultural center.
Colleen Schafroth Retirement
Outgoing Executive Director, Colleen Schafroth, who announced her retirement in March 2023, worked for the Museum for 37 years. Beginning her tenure as Executive Director in 2001, Schafroth led the addition of the $10 million Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing, dedicated in 2012, the $3.6 million renovation of the historic building between 2001-2003, as well as a stucco renovation campaign in 2016. Schafroth’s leadership resulted in the accreditation of the Museum by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) in 2002. Schafroth was instrumental in negotiating a wind-energy partnership that has generated more than $100,000 annually for the museum since it was implemented in 2009 and deftly navigated the museum through the extremely difficult COVID-19 pandemic. “We are extremely grateful to Colleen and her staff over the years for the stable and responsive leadership that has designed the strong foundation for Maryhill’s next 100 years,” said Board Chair Laura Muehleck. Members and friends are invited to a retirement party for Schafroth on Sunday, August 13 at Maryhill Museum of Art in the education room from 2:00-5:00 p.m.
“It has been my great honor working for Maryhill Museum of Art for the past 37 years, a place that will always be in my heart,” said Schafroth who noted her emphasis at Maryhill was educational and, especially, in reaching out to students, which is what she is proudest about, as well as Museum Week, the Summer Art Institute and her curatorial work with chess sets. “The museum will be in good hands with its new executive director, and I look forward to seeing its next chapter.”
