Houston Museum of African-American Culture hires a new CEO
The Houston Museum of African American Culture enters a new era Thursday, when high-profile arts educator and administrator Kheli R. Willetts joins the organization as CEO.
“Mission accomplished,” said her predecessor, John Guess Jr., a management consultant who took on the project of making the museum “tangible” in 2009. He calls Willetts “one of the country’s most astute art and culture observers.”
Willetts comes to Houston after 14 years at Syracuse University, where she taught African-American studies and was executive director of the Community Folk Art Center. She has participated in several of the Houston museum’s programs, most recently speaking there last January about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Board president Gina Carroll said the museum’s leadership was thrilled by Willetts’ participation in its New York symposium, her Houston lectures and her reputation in the national cultural community.
“On all accounts, we found her to be outstanding,” Carroll said.
Guess said Willetts’ leadership and experience are vital to sustaining and strengthening the institution: “She understands the importance of culture for under-served communities and the pursuit of our mission.”
Although the museum has been open regularly since 2012 and has become a player in national conversations about race and culture, Guess has been frustrated by a lack of local financial support. He said none of Houston’s major foundations have provided significant operating help for the institution or its Museum District building.
“We get a lot more credibility nationally,” Guess said.
Optimistic about future outside support, he plans to serve as development director through March to complete several nationallevel grant applications.
In spite of its meager resources, the museum has developed under Guess’s watch into a community nexus that supports work by a range of multiracial talent — including choreographers, filmmakers and playwrights, as well as visual artists.
“I’ve always wanted kids to feel that their culture is not isolated,” Guess said.
The museum has been drawing 30,000 visitors annually, from around the world. “Whether the city wanted it or not, this city has an African-American museum, and it’s a good one,” Guess said.
Several other new staff also have been hired.
The institution has had an extraordinary impact across the country as well as Houston in a short time, Willetts said. “With the team I am joining, I expect the museum’s dynamism to continue.”
Willetts is poised to strengthen standing for a museum that has struggled for local recognition.