Brian Kennedy, Director
Brian Kennedy became the ninth director of the Toledo Museum of Art on September 1, 2010. He came to the Museum with extensive experience in senior leadership positions at art museums in Ireland, Australia and the United States.
A strategic thinker and collaborative leader, he also is a respected art historian, curator and author. Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1961, Kennedy studied art history and history at University College in Dublin, earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
Kennedy was director of Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire (2005–2010), which has one of the largest and finest art collections at an American college or university. Through acquisitions, exhibitions and publications, he increased the collection’s visibility and engaged the museum with the campus and broader community.
Prior to coming to the United States, Kennedy spent eight years as assistant director of the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin and seven years as director of the National Gallery of Australia (1997–2004) in Canberra. A frequent speaker at conferences and seminars, Kennedy has written widely. The author of seven books—most recently, Frank Stella: Irregular Polygons, 1965-66—and the editor of six others, he also has contributed articles to books, exhibition catalogs and journals.
He is a past chair of the Irish Association of Art Historians (1996–97) and of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors (2001–03). He is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors, the American Association of Museums and the International Association of Art Critics.
He and his wife, Mary, have a teenage son, Eamon, and a daughter, Anne, who is a student at the University of New Hampshire.
Carol Bintz, Chief Operating Officer
Carol Bintz has been with the Toledo Museum of Art since 1991, serving in a variety of roles in finance and development. As chief operating officer for a total of nearly 15 years, she is responsible for day-to-day operations of the Museum, including human resources, facilities, physical plant, finance, IT, protective services, the Museum Store and cafe. She is a graduate of Tiffin University and a certified public accountant.
Bintz played a crucial role overseeing construction of the world-renowned Glass Pavilion and has helped the Museum become a leader in the use of green technologies such as solar power, LED lighting, and turbine electrical generators. She is active in the Toledo Rotary Club and has served on numerous community boards such as Green Energy Ohio and the Toledo Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Kathy Danko-McGhee, Director of Education
Kathy Danko-McGhee came to the Museum in 2011 from the University of Toledo where she was a professor of early childhood art education. In demand as a presenter for national and international conferences in her field, she recently coordinated the fourth International Art in Early Childhood Conference hosted by the University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts and the Museum.
A graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan University, Danko-McGhee earned her master’s degree from Indiana State and her doctorate from Ohio State University. Several of her books have become the basis for early childhood art education programs both here and abroad.
In her capacity as director of education, she oversees the Museum’s efforts to be at the forefront of visual literacy education, as well as programs ranging from early childhood education to adult and Docent art education.
Kelly Fritz Garrow, Director of Communications
Kelly Fritz Garrow has been director of communications at the Toledo Museum of Art since 2009, and oversees marketing, public/media relations and digital communications. Under her leadership, the Museum was named “American’s Favorite Art Museum” by the readers of online blog Modern Art Notes. The Museum has received a number of communications awards from the Advertising Club of Toledo, Women in Communication, the Ohio Museum Association and the American Alliance of Museums over the past three years.
Previously, Garrow worked as a development and public relations manager for several non-profits, most recently at a large agency serving individuals with development disabilities. She holds a master’s degree in business management from Indiana Wesleyan University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations from Bowling Green State University. Garrow is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America, and serves on the boards of Kids on the Block, Inc. and PRSA of Northwest Ohio.
Amy Gilman, Associate Director
Amy Gilman was named associate director of the Toledo Museum of Art in January 2011. In this role, she facilitates implementation of the Museum’s strategic objectives, will create and lead a new graduate fellowship program to mentor museum leaders of the future, and coordinate major initiatives from the director’s office.
Gilman came to Toledo in 2005 as curator of modern and contemporary art after earning her doctorate in art history at Case Western Reserve University; she continues in that curatorial role. Since then, she has acquired important works for the collection by Paul Cadmus, Elizabeth Catlett and Marisol, among other significant artists. She also has been involved in the artist-in-residence program at the Glass Pavilion, and, since 2009, has overseen the Museum’s temporary exhibitions program.
Lawrence Nichols, Senior Curator
Lawrence W. Nichols is William Hutton senior curator of European and American painting and sculpture before 1900. He joined TMA in 1992 after being associate curator of the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A specialist in northern Baroque painting, his book The Paintings of Hendrick Goltzius, 1558-1617, A Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné was published in March 2012. He took his Ph.D. from Columbia University and received his B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Nichols has curated major exhibitions at the TMA including “Manet: Portraying Life”, “Van Gogh: Fields”, and “Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch Master: Drawings, Prints, and Paintings”. He has been responsible for a number of important acquisitions including works by Hals, Guercino, Chardin, and Delacroix. He is the curatorial liaison to The Apollo Society, TMA’s art acquisition group.
Nichols serves on the old master paintings vetting committee of The European Fine Arts Fair in Maastricht and was previously a member of the Domestic Indemnity Program Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Art Advisory Committee of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. He was a visiting scholar at the Getty Research Institute in 2010 and at the Clark Art Institute in 1999.
Carolyn Putney, Chief Curator
Carolyn Putney is chief curator and curator of Asian art at the Toledo Museum of Art. At Florida State University and in Florence, Italy, the native Floridian completed her B.A. in art history and graduate coursework in Asian, Renaissance and Baroque art. She came to TMA in 1978 as slide librarian and built what is considered one of the finest visual resources collections in the nation. In 2001 she became curator of Asian art and has organized many exhibitions on that topic as well as contributed to a number of publications on Asian art.
In addition to her work for the Museum, Putney has been a part-time research professor of art history at the University of Toledo. She is currently on the board of the American Association of Museum Curators. She is also a board member and chair of the exhibitions committee for the Arts Commission of Great Toledo. She recently won the YWCA Milestones award for women in the arts.
Carolyn shares her enthusiasm for all the arts with her husband, Dr. Richard H. Putney, who is a professor of art history at the University of Toledo, and curatorial consultant to the Toledo Museum of Art. They love to travel and have organized and led over 35 trips both in the USA and abroad for university students and museum members.