Gowri Sharma Becomes First Person Of Color To Chair Dallas Museum’s Board
The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) in Texas has named Gowri Sharma as the President of its new board, making her the first person of color to chair the board in the institution’s 119-year history.
With an endowment of around $270 million, the DMA is one of the country’s most prominent museums.
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Many similar institutions have been taking steps to diversify their boards following the upheaval in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. As reported in ARTnews, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Walker Art Center were among those to name their first-ever Black board chairs in the year afterward. Denise Gardner, who currently chairs the Art Institute, is in fact, the first Black woman to lead a US museum board.
US institutions now seek to attract a younger, more diverse set of patrons.
The DMA was among the many museums to experience tension and scrutiny between 2020 and 2021.
Gowri Sharma joined DMA’s board of trustees in 2017 and previously served on the executive committee as the Vice President. She was co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and chaired the Learning & Engagement Committee. She currently serves on the Building & Grounds Committee and is a member of the DMA Acquisition Fund created by the Dallas Art Fair.
She is also a founding board member of UNICEF North Texas and Central Plains Region. Gowri Sharma has been an executive member of the Orchid Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation (TXWF) and will be on the executive board and Programs Committee chair at TXWF in the coming year.
Additionally, she is the chair of the Construction Committee, an executive committee member at The Lamplighter School, and currently sits on the Advisory Board of talkStem.
Promoting the cause of diversity, the Dallas Museum of Art has also appointed Indian American engineer Venugopal Menon as its Secretary.
