Post last updated at 2:58 p.m. Wednesday, July 31:
Margaret Weisbrod Morris, who has served as CEO of the Lawrence Arts Center for more than six years, has left her position.
“I am stepping away from the Arts Center to pursue other interests,” Morris said via email Wednesday morning. “That said, I am sad to be leaving this amazing place. Since 2002, I have spent many wonderful years dedicating myself to this organization and community, so this is a bittersweet departure for me.”
Morris has been with the arts center consistently since June 2011, joining the staff as chief program officer, according to her LinkedIn page, after working there as education director from 2001 through 2006. She was selected in May 2018 to take on the role of CEO following a few quick changes in leadership at the center.
“I am deeply grateful for the magnitude of opportunities I have had the pleasure to be a part of here,” Morris said via email. “I have worked alongside the best staff and colleagues anyone could hope for, worked within the community to develop wide-spread and fruitful partnerships, created innovative programs that will continue to sustain the mission long into the future, kept the doors open during a global pandemic when most arts organizations did not and guided the Lawrence Arts Center to take a much-deserved step onto the national stage as a leader in arts organizations.”
During Morris’ time as CEO, the arts center purchased the former Salvation Army building next door and opened 10th & Mass Studios at 1000 Massachusetts St., representing big physical expansions for the center.
“I am proud of the work I have accomplished working with the Arts Center community and the foundation I leave behind,” she said.
Morris said the people of the arts center make it the unique place that it is, and she’s “deeply appreciative to have had the chance to grow personally and professionally alongside this organization and the people within. Good times and tough times, the mission of the Arts Center, that art is for everyone, has been my passion and will remain so.”
Meredith Lang, chair of the arts center’s board, said via email Wednesday afternoon that Morris had submitted her resignation Tuesday.
“Through her positions at LAC and her own work as an artist, Margaret has been a tremendous advocate for the arts within Lawrence, and beyond,” Lang said. “Your article posted earlier today reflects the boundless enthusiasm Margaret has had for engaging our community in the arts. She has fostered collaborations between the Arts Center and other organizations and created meaningful opportunities for countless people. The Board wishes her all the best in her next adventure.”
Lang said the board will begin the task of identifying a successor by naming an interim director within the next month, then forming a search committee to find the next CEO.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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