Greenwich Woman To Lead Museum

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Deputy Director Susan Gilgore of Greenwich has been named president and executive director of the museum,.

According to an announcement from the museum Board of Trustees, Gulgore succeeded President and Executive Director Sheldon Gerarden effective Jan. 1.

Gerarden, who began consulting for LMMM in April of 2007, became President and Executive Director in 2008. Prior to LMMM he served as President and CEO of the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, from 1978 until 2002, and served on Board of Directors of many organizations, foundations and educational institutions including Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium. 

“Mr. Gerarden’s proven organizational abilities have provided the Mansion with a solid framework for a great organization,” said Patsy Brescia, LMMM Chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We are in a far better place today than we were in 2007 because of his contribution.”

Gilgore started working at the museum in 2009 as assistant director, overseeing media relations with the goal of increasing the Mansion’s profile regionally as well as nationally.

Brescia said that she is looking forward to an exciting future under Gilgore’s leadership. “Susan has already attracted major supporters such as the Xerox Foundation,” Brescia said, “and has been instrumental in raising awareness with the media and the public for our programs. The Mansion will continue its cultural and artistic mission into the third millennium with renewed vigor.”

Gilgore discussed her plans for the museum. "I am very excited about our 2012 Season as the Museum will open with a blockbuster exhibit that will focus on one of the Titanic survivors, Helen Churchill Candee, a relative of the Mathews who spent time at the Mansion after the tragic voyage."

According to Gilgore, "Candee was a woman’s rights advocate, an author and journalist and a renowned interior decorator who had worked for President Theodore Roosevelt, among others. She published her first book, How Women May Earn a Living in 1900, and wrote for many travel publications including National Geographic."

Long term goals for Gilgore include "(a) focus on increasing access and support for this National Historic Landmark and cultural center."

Born in Paris, France, Gilgore earned a Ph.D. in political science from the Università degli studi di Milano (Milan, Italy) and began pursuing her love of the arts in New York  City as assistant curator/editor for the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Science and the Humanities.

She later worked for University Archives in Westport, dealing with research and sales of historical documents and artifacts. In 2003 she served as U.S. coordinator for the exhibition and catalog “SuperWarhol,” sponsored by Montecarlo’s Grimaldi Forum, assisting Germano Celant, then senior curator of the Guggenheim Museum.

“I am truly excited to lead this outstanding institution, a cultural centerpiece of our community and a destination throughout Fairfield County of great significance for art, architecture and American history,” Gilgore said. “There is much to look forward to with such dedicated Trustees and so many enthusiastic volunteers, supporters, friends and elected officials, who have demonstrated time and again their commitment to this national treasure.”

Gilgore also served as marketing director for the Connecticut Grand Opera & Orchestra, where she managed marketing and public relations initiatives, organized press launches of international performers, and coordinated fundraisers and special events.