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The Directors’ Cut

A candid conversation with four museum directors of wildly varying kinds of institutions, about what it means to be stewards of art in an especially uncertain environment.

Nora Lawrence, James Steward, Cybele Maylone, Nicola Lees
Princeton’s James Steward (outer left) and Storm King’s Nora Lawrence (outer right) both oversee permanent collections. Cybele Maylone (center right), the executive director of the Aldrich in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Nicola Lees (center left), the artistic director and C.E.O. of the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado, emphasized the freedom of lacking such collections, and what it means for their programming. Photo: Leandro Justen
Marion Maneker
September 16, 2025

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Museums come in many different types and sizes, with varying missions, but it’s always a struggle, in any environment, to fund and support them. That’s especially the case now, given the uncertain political-economic-cultural landscape. So, earlier this month, the Independent 20th Century art fair organized a diverse panel of museum directors to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing their institutions—with yours truly as the moderator.