AMSTERDAM.- On November 1, 2022, Maaike Lauwaert will start as chair of the Executive Board of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Lauwaert has been working at De Appel since 2016, where she started as intendant and then worked as the business director. Together with the Supervisory Board and the team, she brought De Appel into calmer waters after a turbulent period in 2016.

Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg, chairman of the Supervisory Board: “With gratitude we say goodbye to one of the most important permanent values within De Appel in recent years. The unlimited involvement of Maaike Lauwaert, initially as intendant and then as business manager, has been essential in ensuring the continued existence of De Appel. She has shown herself to be a quiet force with a strong voice as well as a steady pillar of support for the team and the wider arts field. Her artistic heart, business knowledge and great dedication will be missed. We wish her and the Rietveld Academy all the luck with this great new step.”

Lauwaert: “It has been an enormous honour and pleasure to work with and for De Appel over the past six years. I will miss the dynamics, working with artists, designers and curators, the many visitors we welcome each year. De Appel stands firmly and is supported by a dedicated team and members of the Supervisory Board. I am therefore taking on this new challenge with confidence.”

Maaike will leave on 1 November 2022. The vacancy for business director at De Appel will be published soon.