HANOVER, N.H.- Lesley Wellman, Curator of Education at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, has been named Director of the Museum Division of the National Art Education Association (NAEA), one the most prestigious positions in the realm of art education. Wellman will serve a four-year term, beginning immediately, from spring 2007 to spring 2011. For the first two years, she will serve as Director-Elect. One of her key responsibilities during this time will be to organize day-long division conferences before the next two annual NAEA conventions. For the second two years she will serve as Director and be the spokesperson for the entire national Museum Division. In addition, she will provide leadership for the division’s Development Committee and serve on the Board of NAEA.

The current and most recent Directors of the Museum Division hail from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the First Center for the Visual Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the MOCA, Los Angeles. Wellman notes, “I am very excited to assume this position, both to give back to NAEA a portion of the incredible professional enrichment it has afforded me, and to represent the Hood in a prominent way in the national arena.” Brian Kennedy, Director of the Hood Museum of Art, says: “My colleagues at the Hood join me in congratulating Lesley Wellman on the recognition she has received from her fellow American art educators. She has developed many educational programs at the Hood, all based on her heartfelt belief in the importance of teaching through direct contact with works of art. We are certain that Lesley will bring to her new role the perspectives and experiences of college and university museums where so much original research and experimental practice takes place.”

Previously, Wellman served on the NAEA’s Development Committee for four years as the Eastern Region representative, from 1997 to 2001, and was the recipient of the Outstanding Museum Educator of the Year Award in 1996 for the Eastern Region of the country. Marla Shoemaker, Senior Curator of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and former director of NAEA notes, “Lesley has a tremendous intellectual curiosity and understanding of both art history and educational theory. She has a strong interest in trying to understand all the ways audiences can connect with works of art, a belief in the consensus process, and a genuine sense of value of each person's point of view, all combining to make her an ideal and important leader of this Division.”