New York’s Jewish Museum, one of the largest museums dedicated to Jewish culture in the world, has named James S. Snyder as its new director.
Snyder, who will begin his new job at the Jewish Museum in November, succeeds Claudia Gould. She stepped down as director in June after leading the institution for 12 years.
“I feel honored to join the Jewish Museum to advance its celebrated history in both the art and Jewish museum worlds,” said Snyder.
The museum, he added, can “lead the way as a model for museums which focus on specific cultures to demonstrate how those cultures resonate with the diversity of communities and audiences around them and foster an understanding of a more interconnected world”.
Snyder spent 22 years as the Israel Museum’s director. During his tenure, the museum more than doubled its annual attendance to nearly one million visitors and increased its endowment more than fivefold to $200 million. Snyder also oversaw the $100m expansion and renewal of the museum’s 20-acre campus.
Before working for the Israel Museum, he served at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, including 10 years as its deputy director.
“As a highly esteemed leader with deep roots in both the museum and Jewish philanthropic worlds, James embodies the spirit of our mission and is the ideal director to lead the Jewish Museum at this time,” said Robert A. Pruzan, the Jewish Museum’s board chairman.
Former MoMA and Israel Museum leader
Harriet Schleifer, who co-chaired the board’s search committee, said Snyder “stood out as a visionary leader who understands what Jewish identity means today”.
Located on NYC’s Museum Mile, the institution is one of the world’s oldest Jewish museums. It looks after a collection of nearly 30,000 works of art, ceremonial objects and media spanning more than 4,000 years of Jewish history.
Elsewhere, London’s Jewish museum has closed its site in Camden indefinitely due to “unanticipated rising costs”.
Lead image credit: IMJ, by Elie Posner
