Moore College of Art and Design gets new leader in July

In July, the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia will get a new leader. Longtime president Happy Fernandez will step down, to be replaced by Cecelia Fitzgibbon.

For the last 16 years, Fitzgibbon has lived and breathed arts administration, as both professor of arts administration at Drexel University and director of its arts administration program.

“Here, it’s been about managers, developing managers and arts leaders,” said Fitzgibbon in her office in Drexel’s MacAlister Hall. “It won’t be such a difficult transition to think about developing creative artists and people who want to take their place in the cultural community as creative workers.”

Among Moore College’s assets is its location. Situated on the Parkway between the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Franklin Institute, Moore College is positioned to be part of the anticipated “museum mile” stretching from the Art Museum to the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts.

The publicly accessible galleries at Moore will be a main focal point of the citywide Fiber Philadelphia textile art festival in March, and Fitzgibbon says she has had met with the director of the nearby Barnes Foundation galleries and to talk about developing partnerships.

“There have been times when Moore has been the best-kept secret,” said Fitzgibbon. “And that can no longer be.”