The Peale, Baltimore’s “Community Museum,” has named veteran arts executive John Suau to be its new executive director, effective Jan. 6.
Suau replaces founding director and chief strategy officer Nancy Proctor, who told the museum’s board of directors earlier this year that she wanted to step down. Over the past eight years, with various titles, Proctor has led an effort to reinvigorate the museum after a period of dormancy and uncertainty. With the Peale’s board, she oversaw the completion of a five-year, $5.5 million renovation of its historic home at 225 Holliday St. near City Hall, and she has been credited with redefining The Peale as a national model for community museums.
Suau has more than two decades of leadership experience in cultural heritage, museum innovation and institutional transformation. He is the founder and CEO of IDbGLAM, an international database for galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM). From 2014 to 2019, he was the Museum and Library Director of the DC History Center, formerly known as the Historical Society of Washington, D. C., where he fostered a partnership with Apple to renovate the museum’s historic building and introduce new community-led programming. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums.
