Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette took over as President and CEO of Newfields August 1.
(Newfields)
After a search earlier this year, Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette is in the second month of her new position as President and CEO of Newfields art museum, park, and garden in Indianapolis. After retiring from her position as President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, TX, she and her colleagues were having discussions about what she wanted to do next.
“[I] wanted to do something that would still wrap my passion around my work, because I think that it's a gift when your personal and your professional passions intersect,” said Pierce Burnette. “That's a gift.”
Her resume got passed around, and according to Pierce Burnette, “the rest is history.”
Her hiring came in the wake of controversy. In February of 2021, Newfields President Charles Venable resigned after dozens of staff members signed a petition calling for him to go.
The petition followed a job posting for a new director that referenced maintaining the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s “core, white audience.”
The job description has been changed and the section referencing white audiences now says it seeks to “welcome and embrace a more diverse audience while maintaining the Museum’s traditional core art audience.”
Newfields officials initially said they had intended to emphasize the museum’s desire to grow non-white audiences without alienating their present white visitors.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art expressed regret for the job posting and in an emailed statement Newfields said, “We deeply regret that in our job description, in our attempt to focus on building and diversifying our core audience, our wording was divisive rather than inclusive.”
Diversity and inclusion were Newfields’ mission going forward, but they needed a leader to step up in the face of the controversy.
One of the reasons Pierce Burnette was drawn to the position was the Newfields mission statement: to enrich lives through exceptional experiences with art and nature. Everyone’s enrichment.
“When I read the mission statement, it really pierced my heart,” said Pierce Burnette.
Pierce Burnette said that her first two months have been consumed by talking to each staff member on Newfields campus and listening to what they have to say. If she misses someone, she makes sure to go back and meet them. She then anonymously transcribes their answers. She’s about a third of the way through.
“It's just people's thoughts for me to be able to just really understand what people love about Newfields and where people think our opportunities are,” said Pierce Burnette.
But Newfields isn’t just about the people. Pierce Burnette said Newfields is a beautiful place to come to work every day. In the early morning, she said she can feel the energy, history, heritage, and beauty.
One place to focus the energy is in the park. Pierce Burnette wants to focus on structures that are art, but also functional. In the next year, Newfields will be unveiling a piece by a New York artist that will also serve as a child’s playground.
“Art that’s in the park is definitely encouraging you to touch it and feel it,” said Pierce Burnette. “And experience it.”
Experience and interaction are two things that are important to Pierce Burnette. Her personal mantra is “being a part of building a beloved community,” which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr helped to make popular. The pieces she wants coming into Newfields during her tenure need to represent that,
“I’m an art consumer, not a creator. So I want to look at something and be like, you know, what that really depicts? What a beloved community looks like,” said Pierce Burnette.
Two months ago, she was just starting her journey in building up the beloved community. She wants to tell herself that she doesn’t need to rush through it.
“You got to experience it and you’re on a marathon, not a sprint,” said Pierce Burnette. “I have to tell myself that every day because I wanna consume it and do it all right away. And that's just unrealistic for me to think that I can do that.”
She hopes that by the end of her tenure, Newfields will have expanded its reach deeper into the community of Indianapolis and beyond. A place where people come from all over the globe and a more well-known best-in-class art Museum and a best-in-class garden.
“We have a long journey ahead of us and we’re looking forward to the community, learning from the community, and being the best in class park, garden, and museum,” said Pierce Burnette.
