Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Reappoints Gail May Engelberg to the Board of Trustees

William L. Mack, Chair, and Wendy Fisher, President, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, today announced that Gail May Engelberg has been elected to the Board of Trustees. Engelberg returns to the Board after having served from 1997 to 2006. She has also been a dedicated leader of the museum’s Education Committee for nearly twenty years.

“A strong and highly visible advocate for arts education, Gail Engelberg is a friend and committed patron of the Guggenheim,” stated Mack. “We are delighted to welcome her back to the Board.” Fisher added, “Gail’s vital work in arts education has contributed to establishing the Guggenheim’s leadership in the field. Her support will continue to advance the museum’s commitment to creating dynamic and meaningful programming. Gail’s longstanding engagement with the Guggenheim’s landmark Learning Through Art program, in particular, has facilitated the integration of teaching artists and arts-based curriculum into classrooms, reaching tens of thousands of students in New York City public schools.”

Engelberg has been a member of the Education Committee for the Guggenheim Museum for nearly twenty years and has served as Chair. In 2001 she endowed the position of Deputy Director and Gail Engelberg Director of Education, which is held by Kim Kanatani, and supports the development and expansion of educational programming, audience outreach, and cultural exchange by the Guggenheim across a range of both local and global initiatives. Engelberg is also a member Guggenheim International Director’s Council, whose primary objectives include funding museum acquisitions of contemporary art.

In addition to her role with the Guggenheim, Engelberg serves as Vice Chair on the board of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York; secretary for the Aspen Music Festival and School. She is a trustee of The Engelberg Foundation, a family foundation that provides grants for health care, education, and social service projects. She has also served on the board at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
Engelberg received her BA in fine arts from Colorado Women’s College. She cofounded the firm of Gammel Ollendick & May (1974–85), a business specializing in the purchase and removal railroads abandoned by the Interstate Commerce Commission, the distribution of railroad ties, and the recycling of rail and scrap steel throughout the western United States. A native of New Orleans, Engelberg currently resides in Aspen, New York, and Palm Beach.

Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of art, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. The Guggenheim constellation of museums that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has since expanded to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (opened 1997), and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (currently in development). The Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international collaborations that celebrate contemporary art, architecture, and design within and beyond the walls of the museum, including the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative. More information about the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation can be found at guggenheim.org.