Barnes Foundation Chooses New Director

After a yearlong search, the Barnes Foundation, in Merion, Pa., has chosen Derek Gillman to lead the arts organization as it embarks on a controversial move to a new building in Philadelphia, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. Since 2001 Mr. Gillman has been chief executive of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Mr. Gillman is filling the post left vacant last summer when Kimberly Camp resigned as the group’s director. The Barnes Foundation won a court case last fall to change its location, despite objections from some critics who said the move went against the wishes of the charity’s long-deceased founder, Albert C. Barnes.

Foundation board members cited Mr. Gillman’s knowledge of a wide range of art and his experience in large-scale fund raising and expansion projects as reasons he was chosen to direct the organization. Mr. Gillman, who was born in England, will start his new job in October.