Internationally known leader on museums and technology will guide BMA’s digital strategy
BALTIMORE (January 24, 2014)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Nancy Proctor as Deputy Director for Digital Experience. In this new position, Proctor will provide vision and strategic direction for the role of digital media in achieving the BMA’s mission in the galleries and online. She will also lead the integration of digital experiences throughout the museum’s renovation, which is expected to be completed in 2015.
“The BMA is transforming itself into a new kind of museum for the 21st century,” said BMA Director Doreen Bolger. “With Nancy at the helm of an expanded digital experience, we begin our second century ready to engage and inspire the next generation of visitors in both the physical and virtual worlds.”
Proctor will oversee a team responsible for collaborating across the museum to expand access to the world-renowned collection and produce digital content to reinvigorate the experience in the galleries and online, connecting the BMA with a wider audience from Baltimore and beyond. The team will manage the museum’s website www.artbma.org, social media presence, and emerging technologies, as well as information technology infrastructure that optimizes the staff’s work and supports digital initiatives. Proctor will begin at the BMA on March 3.
An internationally known leader of museum technology strategies, Proctor is co-chair of Museums and the Web, the largest international conference dedicated to digital practice in the cultural sphere (coming to Baltimore April 2-5, 2014). She has pioneered the use of technology to expand visitor engagement with museums since 1995, when she co-founded TheGalleryChannel.com, publishing innovative online exhibitions and virtual tours and the United Kingdom’s first CD-ROM of contemporary art, as well as syndicating the most comprehensive global listing of museums and galleries of the day.
Most recently, Proctor has advanced the global digital presence of the Smithsonian Institution as Head of Mobile Strategy & Initiatives. Her accomplishments include developing their mobile strategy and central mobile platform, spearheading their participation in the Google Art Project, working with fundraising teams and board members on the roll-out of public WiFi, and advising on more than 50 mobile projects, including the Access App, the world’s first open source solution for crowdsourcing mobile content to make museums more accessible to people with disabilities and foreign language speakers.As Head of New Media Initiatives at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Proctor worked with cross-disciplinary teams to introduce the museum’s first mobile experiences. Her other prior experience includes leading new product development for Antenna Audio/ Discovery Communications from 2000 to 2008, introducing multimedia and cell phone tours, podcasts, sign language tours, and virtual and downloadable tours in London, Paris, and Washington, D.C. Proctor also manages theMuseumMobile.info website, wiki, and podcast series; is digital co-editor of Curator: The Museum Journal; and editor of the 2011 American Alliance of Museums publication Mobile Apps for Museums: The AAM Guide to Planning and Strategy.
“The BMA has an inspiring world-class collection, a talented and dedicated staff, and a visionary director, senior management team, and board of trustees—all essential ingredients to playing a leadership role among innovative cultural organizations,” said Proctor. “I am thrilled by this opportunity and look forward to collaborating with Baltimore’s creative community and connecting more audiences with this great museum.”
Proctor has an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Leeds in Great Britain, and a B.A. in art history and classics from the University of North Carolina. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband and daughter. Follow her @NancyProctor.
BMA RENOVATION
The BMA is currently undergoing an unprecedented $28 million phased renovation to revitalize the visitor experience of the museum and its outstanding collections. The project debuted with the acclaimed reopening of Contemporary Wing in November 2012, and continues with plans to reopen the original Merrick Entrance, a new presentation of the outstanding American art collection, and a dramatically renovated East Wing Lobby and Zamoiski Entrance during the Museum’s 100th anniversary in fall 2014. New galleries for the BMA’s African and Asian art collections and a new learning and creativity center will be completed in 2015.
ABOUT THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
The Baltimore Museum of Art is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works of art—including the largest holding of works by Henri Matisse in the world. The BMA has a long tradition of collecting the art of the day, beginning with the Cone sisters, whose avid acquisitions from living artists signaled the Museum’s commitment to collecting contemporary art. Other outstanding collections include European and American fine and decorative arts, prints and drawings from the 15th century to the present, works by established and emerging contemporary artists, and objects from Africa, Asia, the Ancient Americas, and Pacific Islands. Two beautifully landscaped gardens display an array of 20th-century sculpture that is an oasis in the city. The Museum is located in the heart of Charles Village and adjacent to the main campus of The Johns Hopkins University. The BMA’s building encompasses 210,000 square feet and is distinguished by a grand historic building designed in the 1920s by renowned American architect John Russell Pope. Two beautifully landscaped gardens display an array of 20th-century sculpture that is an oasis in the city. Since 2006, the BMA has eliminated general admission fees so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.