BENTONVILLE, AR.- Art Bridges Foundation has announced the appointment of Anne Kraybill as its Chief Executive Officer. With a growing network of over 230 partner museums, Art Bridges is eager to welcome Kraybill as it continues to increase access to American art across the country.

Kraybill is an accomplished leader in the museum field known for her expertise in program development, community engagement, fundraising, strategic planning, and research. She formerly served as the Director/CEO of the Wichita Art Museum and The Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, among others. At both museums, Kraybill partnered with Art Bridges to expand community access to a diverse range of artworks and public programs.

Alice Walton, founder and board chair of Art Bridges, said, “We’re excited to welcome an entrepreneurial leader like Anne whose experience partnering with museums and the foundation will drive Art Bridges’ impact in the arts and culture sector.”

“I am honored to have been selected as the next CEO of Art Bridges,” said Anne Kraybill. “As a director of two regional museums that have partnered with the foundation, I know first-hand how transformative Art Bridges is by creating and supporting programs that bring diverse artworks and exhibitions to communities across the country. Art Bridges is a true catalyst of change for the museum field and I’m excited to return to Bentonville to work with such a talented team and lead the foundation into its next chapter.”

Walton also noted, “In Anne, we are not only gaining an experienced museum collaborator, but a visionary leader for our future endeavors.”

Anne Kraybill

Anne Kraybill is a proven leader in the arts and cultural sector with demonstrated success in program development, community engagement, fundraising, strategic planning, research and evaluation, interpretive planning, and staff mentorship. She holds an unwavering belief that the arts can enrich lives and strengthen communities and should be accessible and celebrated for all.

Most recently, Kraybill was the Director/CEO of the Wichita Art Museum. During her tenure she led the organization through a successful American Alliance for Museum reaccreditation process, eliminated the admission fee to the permanent collection, led the strategic planning process that centered Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, established an American Art Acquisition fund to diversify the permanent collection, reinstalled the permanent collection galleries, and launched a feasibility study for a future capital campaign.

Previously, she was The Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art where she doubled its financial reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic and grew the endowment by $5 million. She also reoriented the organization to serve the community through innovative partnerships, including an Artist-in-Residence program in collaboration with BOOM Concepts, an organization dedicated to the development of artist and creative entrepreneurs representing marginalized voices, as well as a Heinz Foundation funded public art project in collaboration with the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition.

Prior to her work with The Westmoreland and Wichita Art Museum, Kraybill was the Director of Education and Research in Learning at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art where she established the Windgate Fund, a $15 million dollar endowment to advance initiatives and research in K-12 learning at the intersection of visual arts and advanced research that empirically demonstrated the value of art museums in society. Anne has also held leadership roles at the Durham Arts Council in Durham, NC, the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Vero Beach, FL, and the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD, a Master of Arts in museum education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, a Master of Science in instructional technology from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and has taken doctoral level coursework in public policy at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR.