Creative Capital has named Emily Gerard as director of development after an extensive national search. She will serve as a key member of the leadership team and work closely with Creative Capital’s board of directors, guiding the organization’s philanthropy and advancement efforts. Gerard’s appointment begins August 23, 2021.

Christine Kuan, President and Executive Director, said, “We are delighted about the tremendous talent and professional experience Emily brings to Creative Capital. Emily has built an impressive network of international relationships and a deep knowledge of philanthropy in the arts, which is so essential to growing our organization’s impact for individual artists across the country.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the Creative Capital family,” Emily Gerard said. “While we are still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it could not be a better time to support Creative Capital’s mission of providing artists of different creative disciplines with critical resources and support to help them realize their vision. There is so much potential in terms of online engagement, events, and building community and access to Creative Capital’s services right now and I am excited to be a part of it.”

Gerard comes to Creative Capital with twenty years of experience in nonprofit arts management, philanthropy, governance, and fundraising, including her tenure at Aperture, during which the field of photography experienced significant change, and where she was most recently director of development. In Gerard’s eight years at Aperture, she helped more than double the organization’s fundraising for its renowned publications, programming, exhibitions, and general operations, including projects with artists Kwame Brathwaite, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Deana Lawson, Zanele Muholi, and Mickalene Thomas, among others.

At the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Gerard directed arts grantee initiatives and special commissions, and at the Whitney Museum of American Art, she worked with the board of trustees on the successful first phase of the museum’s $670 million capital campaign for its current building designed by architect Renzo Piano. Prior to that, she held roles at the Parrish Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gerard holds a BA from Kenyon College and studied abroad at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Slade School of Fine Arts at the University of London.

She joins Creative Capital as it enters a new period of growth following the organization’s hugely successful inaugural virtual Artist Retreat in June 2021 and will spearhead new programs, including for membership, individual giving, and long-term engagement with Creative Capital Awardees and community.

About Creative Capital
Founded in 1999, Creative Capital is a nonprofit organization that has awarded more than $50 million to groundbreaking artists in the performing arts, visual arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary arts. Creative Capital also provides professional development workshops, educational and public programs, which have served more than 30,000 artists nationwide. Creative Capital seeks to amplify the voices of artists working in all creative disciplines and catalyze connections to help them realize their visions and build sustainable practices.

Creative Capital has provided funding to 783 artists and 631 projects. Creative Capital Awardees impact global arts and culture and have gone on to receive prestigious honors, including: 127 Guggenheim Fellowships, 17 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, 3 Academy Awards and 13 nominations, 1 Booker Prize, and countless other accolades.

Major Creative Capital programming support has been generously provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies, William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Lambent Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Scherman Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Creative Capital is also grateful for support from Toby Devan Lewis, Stephen Reily and Emily Bingham, Margaret Silva, and Paige West.

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