Jenenne Whitfield departs as American Visionary Art Museum director 'effective immediately'

BALTIMORE -- Jenenne Whitfield will be departing as director of the American Visionary Art Museum effective immediately, the museum announced Thursday.

"After an extensive review of issues essential to the strategic growth of AVAM, the Board of Directors decided to part ways with Jenenne Whitfield as director. While deeply unfortunate, the Board nonetheless appreciates Ms. Whitfield's contributions over the past year and wishes her well in her future endeavors," Christopher Goelet, Chair of the AVAM Board of Directors said. 

Whitfield became director of the museum in September 2022. 

The AVAM Board of Directors said the museum will operate under a shared leadership structure on an interim basis for the remainder of 2023 and 2024.  

"Donna Katrinic, Director of Finance & Operations, will share responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of AVAM with Director of Development & Marketing Valerie Williams. AVAM's Founder and past Director Rebecca Hoffberger has agreed to return to AVAM in this period as Artistic Director to assist with curation and also support the further development of AVAM's endowment," AVAM said in a statement.  

The AVAM board said it plans to form a search committee and begin defining the process for selecting a new director in the coming days.