Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston names new president and CEO

A well-established Charleston museum has a new leader.

The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston has revealed that after a comprehensive, national search the museum is appointing H. Alexander Rich as the its new president and CEO. He plans to begin his new leadership role at the Gibbes in August.

Rich comes to the Gibbes Museum of Art from the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art (The AGB) at Florida Southern College, where he served as executive director and chief curator, according to a news release. He also served as chair of the Department of Art History and Museum Studies at Florida Southern College, and as associate professor of art history at the college — holding the George and Dorothy Forsythe Endowed Chair in Art History and Museum Studies.

Rich is a specialist in modern and contemporary art history, with a particular focus on European and American art of the 19th and 20th centuries, the release stated. He earned his Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and his A.B. from Dartmouth College.

“The Gibbes Museum of Art welcomes H. Alexander Rich, Ph.D., as our new President and CEO of the Museum,” said Spencer J. Lynch, the chair of the museum’s board, in the release. “His career is marked by a commitment to advancing the fields of museums and art history through his innovative leadership, scholarly contributions, and community engagement. He is recognized for building valuable relationships with donors, and expanding institutional reach globally with major cultural organizations.

“His experience as a museum director, chief curator, tenured professor, endowed chair, and public lecturer demonstrates a strong commitment to fostering cultural and educational growth in the community,” adds Lynch. Dr. Rich is succeeding Angela Mack, who is retiring from the Gibbes after a distinguished 44-year tenure.

A native of New York City, Rich led The AGB through a period of major transformation and growth and its major expansion in January 2025 – overseeing the fundraising of more than $18 million since 2022, and fulfilling a three-decade-long dream for the museum, according to the release. Before moving to Lakeland in 2014, Dr. Rich taught previously at the History of Art Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, and in the City University of New York system. Prior to joining the staff of The AGB in 2017 (then the Polk Museum of Art), and becoming its executive director in 2019, during his undergraduate and graduate studies he worked and interned in curatorial and education capacities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, NH, among others.

“I am honored to join the Gibbes Museum of Art, one of the most storied American art museums in one of the most storied cities in the United States,” Rich said in the release. “I am deeply grateful to be chosen to lead the Museum into its next exciting chapter. I look forward to working with the Museum’s talented team, the Board, donors, City leaders, supporters, members, and community leaders. Recognized as a beacon for the arts in the American South since 1858 when the Carolina Art Association began, the Gibbes is heralded as one of the earliest and most longstanding arts institutions in the United States.

“With the Museum’s transformative expansion already underway, the Gibbes has the opportunity to be recognized and celebrated as one of the country’s — and the world’s — great art museums.”

The Gibbes Museum’s Transition Committee conducted more than 20 listening sessions with the Board, stakeholders, donors, trustees, leadership team, staff and members of the community, the release stated. The museum was assisted in the search by the acclaimed executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates.

“The legacy of arts leadership created by his predecessor, Angela Mack, during her four decades at the Gibbes represents a major chapter in the City of Charleston’s cultural evolution,” Lynch said in a previous statement. “Her curatorial contributions, visionary leadership, and successful fundraising sustained and enriched the Gibbes Museum and brought a global perspective to Charleston, showing the city’s significant contribution to the world through art.”