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Tampa Museum of Art Interim Executive
Director Ken Rollins was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by
the Florida Art Museum Directors Association (FAMDA) at its meeting
in September. To be eligible for the award, FAMDA requires that a
museum director must have served at least 25 years as a museum
professional and have made significant contributions during his or
her tenure. According to John Blades, FAMDA president and executive
director of the Henry M. Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, "Ken
Rollins' long and distinguished career, and his leadership
abilities, make him the obvious choice for a Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Florida Art Museum Directors Association."
"The Florida Department of State has
benefited from Ken Rollins' knowledge and volunteer service," said
JuDee L. Pettijohn, deputy secretary of state, Office of Cultural,
Historical and Information Programs, State of Florida. "Ken is
extremely deserving of this prestigious recognition. He has
been dedicated to the museum community for the better part of his
lifetime as an advocate and spokesman for issues impacting his own
museum as well as on behalf of his colleagues."
Rollins joined the Tampa Museum of
Art in September 2005 with a two-year contract as interim executive
director. He immediately launched a comprehensive strategic plan
that evaluated every facet of the museum's operation, with a focus
on preparing the museum for a new facility. Now that plans for a
new Tampa Museum of Art have come to fruition and site work is
scheduled to begin on the building in February, Rollins has agreed
to extend his employment contract to provide continued leadership
through the start of construction and while the search for a
permanent museum director gets underway.
"Ken Rollins is a dedicated professional
with an established history of success in his field. I'm pleased
for Ken on a personal level, and proud to be working with someone
of his stature as director of this institution," said Raymond E.
Ifert, chairman of the museum's board of trustees.
Rollins has served his entire museum
career in Florida in a number of museum directorships, and has
provided statewide leadership of the arts while serving as
president of FAMDA on two separate occasions. In 1994, Rollins
assumed leadership of the Gulf Coast Museum of Art in Largo as
executive director. Prior to that position, he served as executive
director of the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland for 12 years,
following a directorship at the Deland Museum of Art. Rollins has
led the development efforts and construction of two major museum
facilities in Florida -- the Polk Museum of Art and the Gulf Coast
Museum of Art -- achieving American Association of Museums'
accreditation for both institutions.
"Ken is a most deserving recipient of this
award. He has worked in art museums both small and large throughout
the state, and at each post he has brought the utmost of
professionalism to his leadership roles," said Gary R. Libby,
member Florida Arts Council and retired director of the Museum of
Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach.
Rollins also served as chairman of the
Florida Association of Museum's Foundation, as a grant review
panelist for the Florida Arts Council and as a member of the
executive board of the Southeastern Museums' Conference. Rollins
is a Museum Assessment and Accreditation Consultant for the
American Association of Museums, and currently serves on numerous
boards locally and nationally. In 2004, Rollins was honored with a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Association of
Museums. Rollins is a 1964 charter class graduate of the
University of South Florida where he studied liberal arts, received
a Master's degree in Ceramics/Sculpture from the University of
Tennessee in 1973, and is a graduate of the Museum Management
Institute, University of California at Berkeley.
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