HARTFORD, CONN.- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees has elected Gerard Lupacchino to serve as President of the Board and Duffield Ashmead, IV as Senior Vice President during their Annual Meeting, held virtually on Thursday, November 18. Joining them as officers of the Board are Cheryl Chase, Vice President; Michael Klein, Vice President; Hy Schwartz, Vice President; Emilie de Brigard, Secretary; and Frederick Copeland, Treasurer. Prior t Board elections, guest speaker Daniel Weiss, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, delivered remarks.

“It is an honor and privilege to be elected to serve as Board President, particularly as we embark on the next chapter in the remarkable history of this extraordinary world-class institution. We are incredibly fortunate to have a staff that is talented, loyal, and passionate about their work, a committed and wise board, and a CEO who is authentic and humanistic in his approach and a skilled and experienced leader,” said Lupacchino. “As our new strategic framework is finalized, we look forward to engaging more community members than ever before, and bringing art, art-making, conservation, and collecting alive through reinvigorated storytelling and energizing exhibitions.”

Gerard Lupacchino is Senior Vice President of Human Experience for Hartford HealthCare. He has been a member of the Wadsworth his entire adult life, an Elector since 2014, and a Trustee since 2018. In April, he stepped down as chair of the TheaterWorks Hartford board after many years to take on the role of Interim Board President of the Wadsworth. Lupacchino has held positions on the Wadsworth’s Board including Chair of the Compensation Committee, and member of the Executive Committee and Development Committee. He has also served as Co-Chair of the Society of Daniel Wadsworth Membership Initiative at the Wadsworth. Passionate about development, Gerard co-chaired the Hartford Symphony Orchestra Bravo! Gala for 2020 and 2021. Life-long Connecticut residents, Gerard and his partner are active in the National Garden Conservancy and the Hollister House Foundation.

Board elections also saw Lily de Jongh Downing selected as a new Trustee. A Partner at Downing Yudain and Company, Fine Art Consulting and Art Gallery, Downing has been affiliated with the fine arts community for more than three decades. She serves on the Collections Committee of Greenwich Historical Society, and recently served on the search committee for the new Director of the Bruce Museum.




Robert Dance and Elsa Núñez, who were serving as interim appointees to the Board, were elected to a full term. Dance brings a wealth of experience in art museum governance from his service to multiple institutions including the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College and the Clark Art Institute. Núñez is President of Eastern Connecticut State University.

Dance, Downing, and Núñez join members of the Board of Trustees: Duffield Ashmead, IV, Marta Bentham, Cheryl A. Chase, Michele Wren Cook, Frederick C. Copeland, Jr., Carol L. Covello, Mally Cox-Chapman, Alison D. Davis, Emilie de Brigard, Philippa Feigen Malkin, Joseph R. Gianni, G. Duncan Harris, Laura R. Harris, David G. Jepson, Michael F. Klein, Robert D. Kump, Gerard Lupacchino, Merrill F. Mandell, Jeffrey G. Marsted, Timothy McLaughlin, Eileen S. Pollack, Matthew A. Schaefer, Hy J. Schwartz, Jean-Pierre van Rooy, Barbara G. Ward, and Henry M. Zachs.

In addition, members of the Wadsworth’s Board of Electors were selected. They include new members Jane Britton, Erin K. Cardon, Carol Cheney, Joanne Eudy, Douglas John, Andre Rochester, and Jesse Sugarman.

Britton is the Manager, Workers’ Compensation Product Management, at Travelers, and recently served as an Ex-Officio member of the Wadsworth Board of Trustees representing the museum’s Women’s Committee in her capacity as President. Cardon is an Internal Medicine Specialist with the Midstate Medical Group, Hartford Health Care. Cheney is a development and fundraising professional, long-time art enthusiast and supporter of the Wadsworth. Her family’s former company, Cheney Brothers, was recognized as the premier silk producer in the nation. Eudy is a former member of the Wadsworth Atheneum Board of Trustees, has been a docent since 2005, and is the immediate Past President of the Wadsworth’s Docent Council. John is founder of Connecticut Marketing Associates and currently serves as the Vice President and Membership Chair of the Wadsworth’s Design and Decorative Arts Council. Rochester, a native of Hartford, is a practicing artist and former member of the City of Hartford Commission on Cultural Affairs (2014–2015). Sugarman is Director of Development and Communications for Hartford Promise.

They will join current members of the Board of Electors re-elected at the Annual Meeting: Pedro Bermudez, Karen Byrne, John Byrnes, Jay Cantor, Francine Christiansen, Linda Alexander-Cowdery, Sheila D'Agostino, Eric Daniels, Sue Fisher, Claire Galli, Lauren Greenspoon, Karen Holden, Pastor Ashley “AJ” Johnson, Todd Kaufman, Kathleen Kraczkowsky, Lee Kuckro, Leena Langeland, Marcia Reid Marsted, Leigh Newman, James Prosek, Brie Quinby, Marguerite Rose, Benjamin Sams, Jesse Sugarman, Jerry Theodorou, Sally Wister, and Eric Zachs.