Displaying items by tag: arnold l. lehman

Brooklyn Museum Director Arnold L. Lehman announced yesterday at the fall meeting of the Board of Trustees that he will retire in mid-2015.

Lehman, who turned 70 in July, joined the Brooklyn Museum as its director in September 1997.

Under his leadership, the Brooklyn Museum- one of the oldest and largest museums in the country- has undergone nearly two decades of sustained growth, more than doubling its audience and its endowment, refocusing attention on the visitor, expanding and significantly enhancing its landmark building, re-envisioning and re-installing much of its permanent collection, developing a dynamic exhibition program for its Brooklyn site as well as for its national traveling exhibitions, pioneering new technology and, overall, renewing the commitment of a world-renowned institution to its metropolitan area community of artists, families and young people.

The Brooklyn Museum’s suggested general admission fees for adults will increase to $16 from $12, and entry for visitors 19 and under will be free starting Sept. 3, the museum announced on Wednesday.

“This younger audience segment represents the future of all museums, and we must do everything possible to make it easier for them to visit,” said Arnold L. Lehman, the museum’s director. “At the same time, economic realities make necessary this modest increase in our suggested admission fees for other audience segments.”

The Brooklyn Museum has received a $5 million gift from the Leon Levy Foundation to endow the position of director, the museum is expected to announce on Tuesday. The gift is the largest the museum has received from a donor who was not a member of its board of trustees. Arnold L. Lehman, the director of the museum since 1997, will become, formally, the Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the Brooklyn Museum.