Arts Council of Princeton names new executive director

Adam Welch
Adam Welch

Adam Welch, the director of Greenwich House Pottery in New York City, has been named the new executive director of the Arts Council of Princeton. He will begin his new post on Sept. 1.

Welch worked at Greenwich House Pottery, a leading ceramic arts center, for 17 years, serving as the director since 2010. While there, he refocused the organization’s mission, turned a six-figure deficit into a surplus, developed exhibition, education, and residency programs, documented, researched and helped organize historical records, implemented capital campaigns, and developed gallery and artistic publications. He also raised scholarship and capital funds and oversaw management, fundraising, budgeting, and public relations in collaboration with faculty and staff.

An artist, critic, and educator living in Hightstown, Welch serves on the faculty of Princeton University, and for the past six years has been a member of the Hightstown Cultural Arts Commission. He helped write the commission’s public art master plan, organizes its annual empty bowls fundraiser providing relief for food-insecure families, and brought public art to Hightstown.

“As a seasoned professional with an extensive background in arts management and fundraising, we look forward to having Adam Welch bring his creative vision, a wealth of experience, and artistic excellence to the Arts Council of Princeton,” said Sarah Collum Hatfield, president of the board of the Arts Council of Princeton.

Welch said he is honored to be appointed as the executive director of an organization that is important in the Princeton community and the New Jersey art scene.

“I have a deep appreciation for the Art Council of Princeton’s work in the community and its unwavering commitment to art and artists,” Welch said. “I eagerly look forward to working with the staff, faculty, and board of directors. I believe deeply in the responsibility that has been given me and look forward to guiding the arts council into the future.”

Welch succeeds Princeton resident Jim Levine, who has served as the interim director of the organization since 2018.

“We are grateful for Jim’s commitment and leadership during these past two years,” Hatfield said. “Thanks to his guidance and wisdom, along with outstanding support from the staff, the organization has strengthened its mission of building community through the arts, and successfully kept our constituents ‘apart together’ during this time of physical distancing.”

Levine said the staff at the Arts Council impressed him with their creativity, ingenuity, and drive. “They are a real hidden treasure of the town,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing Adam and the staff continue to grow the organization in the years to come and to have it become an ever more important part of the community.”

Avatar of Krystal Knapp

Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.

2 Comments

  1. White man to the rescue! Phew, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. Complacency, mediocrity, and implicit racism can carry on.

  2. Oh please. Are you advocating discrimination against all white men? That sounds like racism to me.

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