Film Fest: The Jewish Film Festival starts Thursday and runs through Sept. 29. The Dallas Morning News‘ Nancy Churnin reports (from behind the paywall) that the series of 10 films from around the world reflect as much as what it means not to be Jewish. The lineup, and the theaters, are available at the Festival’s web site.

Van Cliburn: We are upon the 50th anniversary of Van Cliburn Competition this month, and its foundation continues the celebration with a concert Thursday night in Fort Worth. Four gold-medal winners from the piano competition will perform. The evening is sure to be bittersweet, given news that  Cliburn himself was recently diagnosed with advanced bone cancer. Friends and performers have since been paying calls on the pianist who won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War.

Wayne Lee Gay gives some historical context regarding Thursday’s concert, and shares other classical music news, over on FrontRow.  For more on the competition, tune in to KERA TV (Channel 13) Sept. 28 for the debut of Peter Rosen’s latest documentary, The Cliburn: 50 Years of Gold.

New Hire: Maxwell Anderson has rounded out his management team, bringing in Anne Bergeron as the Dallas Museum of Art’s new Associate Director of External Affairs.  Bergeron has owned her own consulting firm since 2007, working with groups such as the Judd Foundation, the National Museum of Jewish American History and the World Monuments Fund. Prior to that, she was a senior executive at several organizations, including the Guggenheim Museum and the American Federation of the Arts.  Bergeron takes over development, marketing and communications, and visitor services departments, as well as its merchandising and food and beverage activities.  More restructuring: the museum’s position of Chief Development Officer has been eliminated and a new Director of Development, reporting to Bergeron, will be hired.

More on the changes after the jump:

Dallas Museum of Art Names Anne Bergeron as Associate Director of External Affairs

Appointment Completes Museum’s New Leadership Team of Associate Directors

DALLAS, TX – September 4, 2012 – Maxwell L. Anderson, The Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art, today announced the appointment of Anne Bergeron as the Museum’s Associate Director of External Affairs, effective November 5, 2012. The naming of Bergeron to this new role completes the reorganization of the DMA’s senior leadership team announced in March, which included the appointment of Robert Stein as Deputy Director and the promotions of Olivier Meslay to Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Tamara Wootton-Bonner to Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions. Bergeron has over 25 years of experience as an arts administrator, fundraiser, and consultant, and has held senior management posts at cultural and educational organizations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Missouri Arts Council, and the Rhode Island School of Design.

In the newly created position at the DMA, Bergeron will oversee the Museum’s development, marketing and communications, and visitor services departments, as well as its merchandising and food and beverage activities. As part of the Museum’s departmental restructuring, the position of Chief Development Officer will be eliminated and the search for a Director of Development, reporting to Bergeron, will be conducted.

“Anne brings an extraordinary depth of experience in the field of resource development, including fundraising and operational planning, for non-profits and the arts. Her leadership and critical expertise will both strengthen our organizational development and help us continue to expand and enhance the ways we engage and serve our community,” said Anderson. “We know she will be an incredible asset to the Museum and are thrilled to be adding her to our team of Associate Directors.”

“I’m honored to be joining the wonderful team that Max has assembled and feel fortunate for this opportunity to help realize the DMA’s bold vision for the future,” Bergeron said. “When it comes to culture, Dallas has long been a ‘one to watch and learn from’ community and I’m delighted to soon be a part of the rich cultural heritage emanating from North Texas.”

As owner and principal of Anne Bergeron & Co. Consulting LLC, Bergeron has specialized in resource development for cultural and social enterprise nonprofits. She has helped organizations in the arts, design, education, and historic preservation fields achieve financial sustainability and build community by enhancing their operations and leadership, expanding outreach to constituents, and increasing philanthropic support. She has spearheaded planning for programmatic and capital initiatives, and assisted organizations in creating and implementing viable operating and fundraising plans. Her efforts have consistently raised leadership gifts from individuals and institutions alike. Past and recent clients have included Historic New England, Judd Foundation, National Museum of American Jewish History, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Inc., U.S. Biennial, Inc., and the World Monuments Fund, among others.

Prior to establishing her consulting firm in 2007, Bergeron held senior management posts at the National Writer’s Voice Project, where she managed the national expansion of a local literary arts program; the Missouri Arts Council, where she oversaw the programmatic development of a $200-million statewide cultural trust fund; the American Federation of Arts, where she created and led the department of external affairs; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, where she secured national landmark status for its historic building and multi-million dollar funding towards its exterior restoration.

Bergeron has taught graduate level courses on fundraising and philanthropy at Bank Street College of Education, Brown University, and others. In 2010-12, she served as Visiting Practitioner at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at Georgetown University, co-researching a book on the traits and approaches that result in superior museum performance, slated for publication next year.

A native of Connecticut, Anne holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Trinity College and an executive certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown University. She is a member of the American Association of Museums, the Association of Fundraising Professionals and The Museum Group.

About the Dallas Museum of Art

Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) ranks among the leading art institutions in the country and is distinguished by its innovative exhibitions and groundbreaking educational programs. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses more than 24,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Located in the vibrant Arts District of downtown Dallas, the Museum welcomes more than half a million visitors annually and acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events, and dramatic and dance presentations.

The Dallas Museum of Art is supported in part by the generosity of Museum members and donors and by the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas/Office of Cultural Affairs and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

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Interim Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Office: 214-922-1802 |  Fax: 214-922-1350

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