Quick Center for the Arts Leader
Announces Plans to Step Down
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Following a distinguished nine-year term of service, Associate Vice President and Executive Director of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Joseph A. LoSchiavo, will step down as the center’s leader effective Dec. 31, 2011, to pursue new professional opportunities.
“While we certainly respect Joe’s decision and wish him the very best, we sincerely regret the loss of his leadership for the Quick Center for the Arts. He will leave us having accomplished significant milestones and having generated national and international recognition of our museum, University collection, and our institution’s capacity to present major exhibitions,” said Brenda L. McGee, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration.
University President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., said that LoSchiavo’s commitment to enriching the artistic and cultural opportunities of citizens throughout the Twin Tiers region will be his legacy. “Joe ran with the university’s vision to establish the Quick Center as a world-class museum and cultural hub of the region. Through his efforts, some 6,000 school children visit the center each year, and citizens throughout the region have had access to outstanding art and performance experiences.”
Under LoSchiavo’s leadership, the Quick Center has realized accomplishments in several areas ranging from operations and fundraising to growth of the permanent collection and development of partnerships worldwide. Specifically, fund raising has yielded more than $900,000 in grants and more than $2.5 million in gifts, including annual grants from organizations such as the New York State Council on the Arts. Such efforts have reduced the center’s dependence on the University’s operating budget by 55 percent.
At the same time, the museum’s holdings have increased significantly through purchases, gifts, and long-term loan agreements, including a Sackler Foundation loan and participation in the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. Also during his service, the exhibition schedule increased by more than 50 percent from 11 exhibitions in 2002-2003 to an average of 16 per year in the subsequent seven years. Conservation activity increased threefold, supported by grants and individual giving, and the center established a financially self-sustaining professional performance series of nine programs per year, in partnership with The Friends of Good Music and nationally-recognized classical music organizations, such as the Liederkranz Foundation and the Concert Artists Guild.
“What he has been able to accomplish in just eight short years is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Marianne Laine, chair of the Guild for the Quick Center. “Joe has taken the Quick Center from virtual obscurity to national and international levels of acclaim. He will be very difficult to replace, and I am grateful to him for bringing to our region his distinctive expertise, experience, and commitment.”
Widely acclaimed exhibitions curated under LoSchiavo’s leadership include:
• The 2005 exhibition Glorious Lessons: The Idea of America, which was comprised of 230 works of art, artifacts and documents from the period of the American Revolution, on loan from seven major institutions and seven private collectors.
• Walls Speak: The Narrative Art of Hildreth Meière, an exhibition that originated at the Quick Center in 2009, on view at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. (March through December 2011) and at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York (February through May 2012).
• Art of Sky, Art of Earth: Maya Cosmic Imagery, based on the Quick Center’s extensive Maya holdings, originated at the center in 2008, traveled to the Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University as part of an exchange with that museum’s African collection (2009 through 2012).
“When I was brought to St. Bonaventure in 2002, my commitment was to stay for five years. It has now been more than eight years, which have been among the most gratifying and productive of my career. I am very proud of what we have achieved in that time and I feel that the Quick Center is now well positioned for a future of both growth and stability,” said LoSchiavo.
Ludwig Brunner, who has served as Assistant Director of the Quick Center since 2007, will serve as Interim Executive Director through Dec. 31, 2012. LoSchiavo will remain in consultation with the University through May 31, 2012.
Brunner has served the university since 2003 when he was named Programming Consultant for the Quick Center. Shortly thereafter, he became Director of Programming before assuming the role of Assistant Director in 2007. Previously, he was Artistic Administrator at The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York City. Beginning in 1981, Mr. Brunner pursued a distinguished career as an agent and manager of major international opera stars, classical music soloists, and Broadway and musical theater performers. He is the recipient of a Berlin Theatergemeinde award (the German equivalent of the Tony award) for his work on the Berlin production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
“While we certainly respect Joe’s decision and wish him the very best, we sincerely regret the loss of his leadership for the Quick Center for the Arts. He will leave us having accomplished significant milestones and having generated national and international recognition of our museum, University collection, and our institution’s capacity to present major exhibitions,” said Brenda L. McGee, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration.
University President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., said that LoSchiavo’s commitment to enriching the artistic and cultural opportunities of citizens throughout the Twin Tiers region will be his legacy. “Joe ran with the university’s vision to establish the Quick Center as a world-class museum and cultural hub of the region. Through his efforts, some 6,000 school children visit the center each year, and citizens throughout the region have had access to outstanding art and performance experiences.”
Under LoSchiavo’s leadership, the Quick Center has realized accomplishments in several areas ranging from operations and fundraising to growth of the permanent collection and development of partnerships worldwide. Specifically, fund raising has yielded more than $900,000 in grants and more than $2.5 million in gifts, including annual grants from organizations such as the New York State Council on the Arts. Such efforts have reduced the center’s dependence on the University’s operating budget by 55 percent.
At the same time, the museum’s holdings have increased significantly through purchases, gifts, and long-term loan agreements, including a Sackler Foundation loan and participation in the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. Also during his service, the exhibition schedule increased by more than 50 percent from 11 exhibitions in 2002-2003 to an average of 16 per year in the subsequent seven years. Conservation activity increased threefold, supported by grants and individual giving, and the center established a financially self-sustaining professional performance series of nine programs per year, in partnership with The Friends of Good Music and nationally-recognized classical music organizations, such as the Liederkranz Foundation and the Concert Artists Guild.
“What he has been able to accomplish in just eight short years is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Marianne Laine, chair of the Guild for the Quick Center. “Joe has taken the Quick Center from virtual obscurity to national and international levels of acclaim. He will be very difficult to replace, and I am grateful to him for bringing to our region his distinctive expertise, experience, and commitment.”
Widely acclaimed exhibitions curated under LoSchiavo’s leadership include:
• The 2005 exhibition Glorious Lessons: The Idea of America, which was comprised of 230 works of art, artifacts and documents from the period of the American Revolution, on loan from seven major institutions and seven private collectors.
• Walls Speak: The Narrative Art of Hildreth Meière, an exhibition that originated at the Quick Center in 2009, on view at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. (March through December 2011) and at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York (February through May 2012).
• Art of Sky, Art of Earth: Maya Cosmic Imagery, based on the Quick Center’s extensive Maya holdings, originated at the center in 2008, traveled to the Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University as part of an exchange with that museum’s African collection (2009 through 2012).
“When I was brought to St. Bonaventure in 2002, my commitment was to stay for five years. It has now been more than eight years, which have been among the most gratifying and productive of my career. I am very proud of what we have achieved in that time and I feel that the Quick Center is now well positioned for a future of both growth and stability,” said LoSchiavo.
Ludwig Brunner, who has served as Assistant Director of the Quick Center since 2007, will serve as Interim Executive Director through Dec. 31, 2012. LoSchiavo will remain in consultation with the University through May 31, 2012.
Brunner has served the university since 2003 when he was named Programming Consultant for the Quick Center. Shortly thereafter, he became Director of Programming before assuming the role of Assistant Director in 2007. Previously, he was Artistic Administrator at The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York City. Beginning in 1981, Mr. Brunner pursued a distinguished career as an agent and manager of major international opera stars, classical music soloists, and Broadway and musical theater performers. He is the recipient of a Berlin Theatergemeinde award (the German equivalent of the Tony award) for his work on the Berlin production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
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