Dr. Doreen Bolger

Doreen Bolger has been director of The Baltimore Museum of Art since 1998, most recently leading the Museum in a $65 million comprehensive campaign, which will increase the endowment, support exciting physical transformations such as reopening the BMA’s grand front entrance, and enhance the collection with important works of art. As of the public announcement in June 2008, $40 million has been raised during the silent phase, placing the campaign more than halfway to its goal. Under Bolger’s leadership, the BMA eliminated admission fees in 2006 for the first time in more than two decades, making the Museum free for all. In 2003, Bolger lead the development of a bold strategic plan aimed at bolstering the BMA’s reputation nationally and internationally as a center for 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art, while expanding its role as a vital cultural, educational, and economic asset for the region.

A specialist in 19th-century American art, Bolger previously served as Director of the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design. She spent 15 years as a member of the curatorial staff at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, concluding her tenure there as Curator of American Painting and Sculpture. She also held the position of Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Bolger publishes and curates in her field and has repeatedly served as a panelist for the NEA and NEH. She also plays a leadership role in the region’s cultural community, serving as Chair of the WYPR Community Advisory Board, and as a Board member of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Maryland Citizens for the Arts, and Charles Street Development Corporation, She is also a member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee of the U.S. Mint. Bolger graduated from Bucknell University in 1971 and earned a Master’s degree in 1973 from the University of Delaware, Newark. She completed her Ph.D. in Art History at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York in 1983.