Pam Crowe-Weisberg announced her resignation as executive director of The Kimball Art Center on Friday of last week.
Her departure was prompted by personal obligations.
“My mother died in January and my father is ill,” Crowe-Weisberg told The Park Record in a phone interview. “It’s been a very difficult time for my family, so I will be attending to my family in Florida.”
Crowe-Weisberg arrived at the 32-year-old center after retiring from the fashion industry in New York, a trade she worked in for 30 years.
Among her proudest achievements since joining the Kimball in 2004, Crowe-Weisberg lists the 21 exhibits she was able to bring to the center’s galleries, the annual Kimball Arts Festival which has attracted more than 900 applications this year, and the thriving art classes and lectures the Kimball provides to all members of the community, young and old, including adult classes, a young artists academy for high school students and a growing number of school tours at the center.
Crowe-Weisberg said she is also proud of the increase in funding especially from private donors — the center has received since her tenure. “It has more than doubled,” she said.
Reaching out to the Hispanic community of Utah, Crowe-Weisberg was instrumental in developing the annual Arte Latino celebration at the Kimball Arts Center, which publicized and supported Utah artists with a Latin American heritage. This year’s third annual exhibit, which features Joe Bravo’s “Tortilla Art” and a Latino-themed Wasatch Back Student Art Show is in its final week at the center. “Being able to provide that bridge between the Park City community and Latino community has been remarkable,” she said.
Crowe-Weisberg leaves the Kimball satisfied that it is “a robust and thriving art center,” thanks to a talented team that works well together, she said. “We’ve done some incredible things and I could not do it alone,” she stressed. “I am very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Bruce Larrabee, artist, six-year Kimball Art Center board member, and current chairman, will take over executive director duties. The board will take its time to find a replacement for Crowe-Weisberg, he said, anticipating anywhere from a month to a six-month search. Among the qualities the board is looking for is someone who is a community leader, someone with business sense and someone with an art background. In the meantime, the center will focus on sifting through submissions by artists for the upcoming Kimball Arts Festival this August, he said.
“Pam did very well here as executive director,” Larrabee praised. “She did a phenomenal job, bringing to the Kimball world-class artists like Ginny Ruffner and others that the center had never seen before. She truly ran the organization like a well-oiled machine.”
Locally, Crowe-Weisberg was known for her support, for not only bringing in the nationally known or internationally known talent, but also for her inclusion of lesser-known local artists.
“Pam has given artists who would not have otherwise have had the opportunity to be exposed,” reflected Park City artist Emily Chaney. “She’s definitely helped artists.”
Weisberg said she has no plans to return to the center, but will continue to live in Salt Lake City. This year would have been her fifth year at the Kimball.