Noelle McClure appointed new AVA Board President
Astoria Visual Arts (AVA) has named Noelle McClure president. The AVA board voted unanimously to appoint McClure to the post during a meeting on July 6, 2020. McClure joined AVA’s board earlier this year.
A life-long lover of art and art history, Noelle McClure has been able to merge these interests with her inclinations of organization and project management by professionally caring for art collections—most recently working with the prestigious Paul Allen Family Collection in Seattle and before that with the more than 45,000 works on paper at the Portland Art Museum. McClure earned a BA in art history and a BFA in printmaking from the U of O where she graduated summa cum laude. She also has an MFA in studio art from UNC Greensboro and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Collection Management & Care from George Washington University.
McClure succeeds Lisa C. Smith, board president since 2017. Smith, who will continue to serve on the board, called McClure “a brilliant and transformative leader.”
“Noelle has assumed control of AVA as we find ourselves in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens the existence of arts organizations throughout the country. And AVA certainly is not immune to that threat,” said Smith.
McClure said it was “an honor” to be named to the job. As board president, she said, she will continue to “strengthen AVA’s commitment to local artists and the community via our annual open studios tour, artists-in-residence programs, gallery, and partnerships with local high schools, Recology Western Oregon, and the Astoria Writer’s Guild. We’d very much like to expand the number of community partnerships we have and also increase diversity within AVA’s board and membership.”
“We have big ambitions for AVA, even in these difficult times,” McClure continued. “I am optimistic that we will be able to widen our circle of inclusion and influence in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.”
Astoria Visual Arts was founded in 1989 as a non-profit membership organization to enhance, strengthen and promote the arts in the Greater Astoria Area.
A life-long lover of art and art history, Noelle McClure has been able to merge these interests with her inclinations of organization and project management by professionally caring for art collections—most recently working with the prestigious Paul Allen Family Collection in Seattle and before that with the more than 45,000 works on paper at the Portland Art Museum. McClure earned a BA in art history and a BFA in printmaking from the U of O where she graduated summa cum laude. She also has an MFA in studio art from UNC Greensboro and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Collection Management & Care from George Washington University.
McClure succeeds Lisa C. Smith, board president since 2017. Smith, who will continue to serve on the board, called McClure “a brilliant and transformative leader.”
“Noelle has assumed control of AVA as we find ourselves in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens the existence of arts organizations throughout the country. And AVA certainly is not immune to that threat,” said Smith.
McClure said it was “an honor” to be named to the job. As board president, she said, she will continue to “strengthen AVA’s commitment to local artists and the community via our annual open studios tour, artists-in-residence programs, gallery, and partnerships with local high schools, Recology Western Oregon, and the Astoria Writer’s Guild. We’d very much like to expand the number of community partnerships we have and also increase diversity within AVA’s board and membership.”
“We have big ambitions for AVA, even in these difficult times,” McClure continued. “I am optimistic that we will be able to widen our circle of inclusion and influence in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.”
Astoria Visual Arts was founded in 1989 as a non-profit membership organization to enhance, strengthen and promote the arts in the Greater Astoria Area.
