Planting Fields Foundation (“Planting Fields” or “the Foundation”) today announced that Gina Wouters will join the foundation as executive director as of Jan. 1, 2019. Wouters replaces Henry Joyce who is retiring after having served in the role for over ten years.
Commenting on the new hire, Hal Davidson, president of the board of trustees of Planting Fields Foundation, said, “We are thrilled to welcome someone of Gina’s caliber to help take us to the next level and realize our ambitious development goals. Gina’s experience and expertise are broad and deep and match everything we were looking for in the position: strategic leader and manager, engaged ambassador, accomplished scholar in the field, and with a genuine passion for our mission.”
“We are grateful for Henry Joyce’s valuable contributions to the Foundation over the past decade, particularly in returning the interior of Coe Hall to its former splendor through an extensive furniture acquisition plan, and in the expansion and enhancement of public events. We will miss him, but we are extremely eager to have Gina on board as we embark on our next phase,” he added.
“I am so excited to have the opportunity to lead an organization with the potential to have major impact on, not only the local and regional New York community, but on a national and international level as well. Planting Fields has all the attributes necessary to evolve as a world class site and a relevant and engaging destination for a broad constituency. I very much look forward to repositioning the organization, advancing art scholarship and best museum practices at this extraordinary and important historical treasure,” said Wouters.
Wouters spent a large part of her professional career at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami since 2007, serving as Curator from 2013-2018. At Vizcaya, she oversaw all curatorial initiatives, including research, exhibitions, development and implementation of the furnishing plan for the interior. In addition, she developed related programming and managed and negotiated the reacquisition of original Vizcaya objects housed at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Wouters was also oversaw the Contemporary Arts Program (CAP), which commissions site-specific work from living artists. Her most notable project at Vizcaya was the research, advocacy and preservation of Robert Winthrop Chanler’s work, which included the organization of a national symposium on the artist and authoring and editing the award-winning book, Robert Winthrop Chanler: Discovering the Fantastic (published by the Monacelli Press, 2016). Most recently, Wouters served as Vice President of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator at Cheekwood Estate and Gardens in Nashville, where she led the artistic, scholarly and educational vision of the museum, and was part of the small leadership team that oversaw the organization’s strategic plan and major campaign initiatives. During her tenure she developed a comprehensive interpretive plan, implemented a multi-year exhibition schedule and successfully positioned conservation and preservation of the collection as institutional priorities.
Wouters is a frequent participant, speaker and presenter at various curatorial and museological conferences and symposia throughout the U.S. and UK; she is the author of two books and numerous exhibition materials; and is the recipient of a number of awards related to her work in the field. She holds a bachelor of fine arts in Photography and Art History from Barry University and a master of arts in 17th-century Dutch Art from the Universiteit van Amsterdam in her native country, the Netherlands. Wouters is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom where she researches the impact contemporary art in historic contexts has on cultural sustainability.
