Charleston museum president, CEO to step down after 43-year career

The Gibbes Museum of Art has announced that Angela D. Mack will retire from her role as president and CEO in October 2025.

In her 43-year career at the Gibbes she served as associate curator, curator of collections, chief curator and deputy director of curatorial affairs before becoming executive director in 2008 and assuming her current role in 2023, according to a news release.

The museum will launch a nationwide search to fill the position.

“We are deeply grateful for Angela’s four decades of dedicated service,” said board President Spencer Lynch in the release. “Her curatorial contributions, visionary organizational leadership and successful fundraising sustained and enriched the Gibbes and brought a global perspective to Charleston while also showing the city’s significant contribution to the world through art.”

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At the Gibbes, Mack organized or oversaw the display of over 300 groundbreaking exhibitions and the acquisition of numerous significant artworks including pieces by Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns, Kara Walker and Fred Wilson, according to the release.

Mack spearheaded an award-winning, two-and-a-half-year, $17.5 million building renovation as well as completed a $14.5 million capital campaign and a Historic Tax Credit initiative that provided an additional $2.5 million for the building renovation. In addition, she doubled the organization’s endowment through legacy gifts.

In 2009, Mack completed and in 2024 oversaw the Gibbes’ third and fourth accreditations with the American Alliance of Museums. Considered an industry thought leader, she wrote, edited, and had published several award-winning books and catalogs, the release stated.

Mack also broadened the Gibbes’ audience by working with the board to develop a Ten-Year Strategic Plan, introducing pillars of social justice, innovation, conservation and the environment and health and wellness, as well as creating a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Plan, according to the release. The formation of the Gibbes young associates’ group, Society 1858, the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art, the Visiting Artist Program and Art Charleston events including the Women’s Council Art of Design luncheon and lecture during her tenure engaged artists, Charlestonians and supporters in new ways that built a foundation for the museum’s enduring future.

Upon retirement, Mack plans to return to curatorial work and serve as an art advisor, continuing her lifelong dedication to the arts.

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