Summer 2019

January 2018. And he was impressed.
“Frankly it infected me,” he said. “The idea of
the Cummer and the opportunity to drive change
here was exciting.”
But Levine, who had become engaged to a
Toledo resident who was studying to be a dentist,
ultimately decided “the timing wasn’t right” and
withdrew as a candidate.
“However interesting, I had to pass,” he said.
Levine’s decision left the Cummer in a difficult
position. Finding candidates who had the qualities
they were looking for — a solid knowledge of
art history combined with business knowledge
and leadership skills — was proving frustrating,
Schwartz said.
“The Cummer was having a hard time with our
search,” Schwartz said.
Then in August 2018 the Cummer’s board invited
Levine to reconsider. He and his fiancée, Brooke
Brown, visited in September 2018, and he decided
he wanted the job. His hiring was announced by
the Cummer in mid-October.
Levine grew up in New York City, in the Riverdale
section of the Bronx. His love of museums
began young.
“I grew up going to art museums on rainy days,”
he said.
He attended the Horace Mann School, a college
preparatory school located in Riverdale, for high
school and spent three years studying art history.
As a senior he read Dan Brown’s novel “The
Da Vinci Code.” While he wasn’t impressed by the
book, he was intrigued by its discussion regarding
which gospels were included in the New Testament.
He spent his summer vacation reading
books about the Gnostic gospels by Princeton
scholar Elaine Pagels.
That fall, enrolled at Dartmouth College, he
began studying early Christian art and developed
an interest in artistic depictions of Christ
during the Roman Empire. He majored in
anthropology, art history and mathematics and
social sciences.
He then attended the University of Oxford’s
Corpus Christi College as a Rhodes Scholar, earning
a master degree and a doctorate in art history.
While a student at Oxford, he co-founded a
company, Art Research Technologies, and served
as its CEO until 2012. The company was designed
to price art effectively. Levine said he did a poor
job managing his company, but it was a valuable
experience.
“I made virtually every mistake someone in his
20s could make,” he said. “I think I’m better for it
having metabolized those failures … We managed
a positive exit out of it. It was a really important
lesson for me.”
Levine then went to work for the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City as a
collections management assistant in the Greek
and Roman Art Department. In 2013 he was
hired by the Toledo Museum of Art, initially as
ADAM M.
LEVINE
George W. and Kathleen I.
Gibbs Director and Chief
Executive Officer of the
Cummer Museum of Art
& Gardens
Age: 32
Hometown:
Bronx, New York
Education:
Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth
College in anthropology,
art history and mathematics
and social sciences; Master of
Studies and Doctor of Philosophy
degrees in the history of
art from Oxford University.
PREVIOUS Work
experience:
Deputy director and curator
of ancient art at the Toledo
Museum of Art, 2013-2018;
collections management assistant
in the Greek and Roman
Art Department at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New
York City 2011-2013; founder
and CEO of Art Research
Technologies, 2009-2012.
FAMILY:
Parents live in Bend, Ore.;
brother, a chef, lives in Brooklyn;
fiancée Brooke Brown
lives in Toledo, Ohio.
QUOTE:
“When I visited the Cummer
Museum, I was overwhelmed
by its potential. The seasoned
staff, the magnificent gardens,
the strong collection and the
supportive board all suggested
the museum could become a
truly special institution.”
an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow.
He subsequently was promoted to assistant
director, then associate director and finally deputy
director while also serving as curator of the museum’s
collection of ancient art. The Toledo Museum
of Art has a permanent collection of more than
20,000 works of art (the Cummer’s collection is
about 5,000 works of art).
v v v
Levine, like his predecessor McMath, is interested
in expanding and diversifying the Cummer’s
focus and its audience. In February he invited
Johnnetta Cole, a Jacksonville native who was president
of Spelman College and of Bennett College
and, from 2009-2017, was director of the Smithsonian
Institution’s National Museum of African Art,
to join him at the Cummer for a discussion of how
to make museum membership more diverse.
During the evening, Cole repeatedly referred to
Levine as her mentee.
“I mentor many young people, most of whom
are women and people of color,” said Cole, now
a resident of American Beach in Nassau County.
“However, I offered to be Adam’s mentor because
we share the same perspective about art museums
…
“Adam exhibits characteristics of an outstanding
leader. He has a collaborative style, he
is courageous in doing what he thinks is right, he
commands the subject matter of his field, he is
open to new and innovative ways of doing things,
and he inspires his colleagues.”
Cole’s enthusiasm about Levine is widely
shared.
“He’s a rising star in the museum world,” said
Ricardo “Rick” Morales III, the chair of the Cummer’s
board of trustees.
“He seemed to check all the boxes,” said Jim
Draper, an artist who teaches at the University
of North Florida and was part of the search
committee. “He was the perfect choice for the
Cummer. He understands the dynamics of the
way things work.”
“I think he’ll bring fresh energy,” said Crystal
Floyd, studio director of CoRK, a collection of artist
studios in North Riverside.
“He has youth and vibrance,” said James
Richardson, a Cummer trustee who was part of the
search committee. “I was impressed by his entrepreneurial
thinking.”
“His credentials are just top notch,” said Debra
Murphy, chair of UNF’s Department of Art and
Design. “He opens up a new era for the Cummer.”
“We were lucky he even bothered to come
here,” said Martha Baker, co-chair of the Cummer
search committee. “He has such a fresh view of
things.”
“I would say that he has a fresh approach on
what the art scene should be in Jacksonville,” said
artist Lana Shuttlesworth, who said Levine has
been visiting Jacksonville artists in their studios
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J MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2019