Molly Rowe, a Lafayette native with two decades of experience working with arts and culture organizations around the world, has been named executive director of the Hilliard Art Museum at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Rowe's work within the arts world spans nonprofits like the New York City Ballet and the Whitney Museum of American Art; higher education, including Savannah College of Art & Design and Duke University; and Fortune 500 brands such as Google and The New York Times. Rowe holds an MBA in strategic management from Tulane University, a bachelor's degree in history and French literature from Cornell University and has completed graduate work in art history at Sorbonne Université and École Normale Supérieure in Paris.
The opportunity to take the helm at the Hilliard Museum felt "a little bit like fate," said Rowe, who recently returned to Louisiana from New York and sits on the board of Basin Arts, a Lafayette nonprofit.
"Art brings us face to face with people and ideas and cultures across time, across space, and invites us to expand our perspective," said Rowe. "Being able to do that work here, in a community that I love so much, excites me."
She said the Hilliard's deep ties to UL Lafayette drew her to the executive director role. This connection is at the core of her vision for its future — to root the museum in a distinct place, while participating in a broader national and international conversation.
"If you're looking at institutions across the South and even across America, one of the things that makes the Hilliard special is the fact that it's part of a university, and the resources and the scholars and the wealth of knowledge that are at the Hilliard's fingertips really set it apart," Rowe said.
Recently celebrating 20 years of operation in its current building, the Hilliard has hosted diverse exhibitions of regional, national and international art. Notably, its current exhibit, "Rodin: Toward Modernity," showcases the museum's role as a driving force among the region's arts and culture organizations.
Rowe said in addition to its 11,000 square feet of gallery space, she is especially excited about working with the museum's permanent collection of 18th through 21st-century European, Asian and American artworks. The 2,500 objects (and counting) provide an unlimited opportunity for scholarship and dialogue, Rowe said.
"To think that you have these objects that are not only being preserved for the sake of our community, but to be studied by UL Lafayette students, scholars and visiting scholars as well," Rowe said. "The conversations that come out of that are really important."
For Rowe, the museum's two distinct structures — its modern, main building designed by Eskew Dumez Ripple and the A. Hays Town building, originally established in 1968 as the Art Center for Southwest Louisiana — serve as a physical reminder of what is possible.
"On the museum site alone, the past confronts the future,” Rowe said. “Our region has without a doubt the most distinct culture in the country — and the Hilliard plays a pivotal role in ensuring it’s rich and sustainable cultural future.”
The Hilliard Art Museum is the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans. The museum is located at 710 E. St. Mary Blvd., on the UL Lafayette campus. To learn more about the museum, exhibits, artists and programs, visit HilliardMuseum.org.
Photo caption: Molly Rowe is the new director of the Hilliard Art Museum - University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Photo credit: Doug Dugas / University of Louisiana at Lafayette