Andrea Grover Named Executive Director of Guild Hall

[caption id="attachment_53435" align="alignnone" width="800"] Andrea Grover. Photo by Sunny Khalsa[/caption]

East Hampton’s Guild Hall has named Andrea Grover as Executive Director, effective September 1, according to an announcement made last Thursday by Marty Cohen, chair of Guild Hall’s Board of Trustees.

“Andrea’s extensive experience, accomplishments and local standing make her the ideal person to take the reins of Guild Hall and lead us into the future,” said Mr. Cohen. “She brings a dynamic vision along with insightful knowledge of our ever-evolving community.”

Ms. Grover has served as Curator of Special Projects at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill since 2011. In this role she has spearheaded contemporary art initiatives, curated many successful exhibitions, including the most recent “Radical Seafaring” — one of the museum’s most celebrated exhibitions — and attracted new support from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors. In addition, she has created programs that engaged the local community, including residents, artists, businesses and government, while simultaneously garnering national press coverage.

In 1998, Ms. Grover founded Aurora Picture Show in Houston, Texas. She directed this center for film, video and new media performance for a decade before going on to serve as a special advisor for arts foundations like Creative Capital, Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Prior to coming to the East End, she was a Warhol Curatorial Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, and in 2013 she was awarded a Center for Curatorial Leadership Fellowship with a residency at Walker Art Center. Ms. Grover succeeds Ruth Appelhof who has led Guild Hall for the last 16 years and will retire this fall.