Framing the Future

Growing up just an hour from the Rollins Museum of Art (RMA), Leslie Anderson didn’t realize how close she was to the kind of art that could change a life. That understanding came years later, during a family trip to Spain, when she stood before masterpieces in Catalonia’s museums and felt what she calls the power of proximity—the electric connection of being face to face with great art.

“It definitely made me more aware of the power of an object and being close to it,” she says. “And it was kind of a portal into a different time … really a kind of magical object.”

Now, as the new Bruce A. Beal executive director of the Rollins Museum of Art, Anderson is working to bring that same transformative access closer to home. A respected scholar and curator whose career has spanned continents and disciplines, she brings a rare blend of academic rigor, creative vision, and executive experience to the museum at a pivotal moment. With a new state-of-the-art facility on the horizon, Anderson is uniquely positioned to guide RMA into its next chapter—one defined by access, collaboration, and community.

“Leslie’s exceptional track record of transforming cultural institutions while maintaining scholarly excellence makes her the ideal leader to articulate and advance the vision of the Rollins Museum of Art, especially given her strength in contemporary art, which complements our world-class Alfond Collection,” says Don Davison, vice president for academic affairs and provost, who chaired the search committee. “Her ability to build meaningful partnerships across academic disciplines and her commitment to community engagement align perfectly with our institutional values and strategic goals.”

Learning Laboratories

Anderson’s academic path toward museum work started as an undergrad at the University of Florida, where she studied history and earned a master’s in art history with a concentration on Renaissance and Baroque art. She first experienced the influential role of a teaching museum as a grad-student intern at UF’s Harn Museum of Art, where she saw firsthand how museums can bridge research and public understanding.

“Academic art museums play a vital role in connecting scholarship and creative practice,” says Anderson. “They serve the campus and are so important in creating these sustained encounters with an object. They are fertile ground for research opportunities and teaching students about research. But they can also be the gateway for the public to understand the work that’s being done on that campus.”

That early experience at UF became the foundation for her curatorial approach and her years as a professor at institutions like the Parsons School of Design and Indiana University Indianapolis, where she found fulfillment and meaning in helping students connect with art on a deeper level. She doesn’t view art museums simply as display cases but rather as dynamic partners in education—a philosophy and approach she now brings to RMA.

“The new museum space will sit at the crossroads of campus and downtown Winter Park, right next to The Alfond Inn,” she says, “serving as both a classroom and a community hub—a place where learning doesn’t stop at the gallery wall.”

Anderson’s experience as both an educator and arts administrator has made her a bridge builder. She understands how faculty research can inform exhibitions, how students can contribute to curatorial work, and how community members can learn and grow alongside them.

The Art of Access

Anderson often returns in her mind to that formative trip to Spain as a reminder of how access to great art can ignite imagination and inspire purpose. Today, her goal at RMA is to make that spark available to anyone who walks through the museum’s doors.

As the only teaching museum in the region, RMA offers something unique: a place where visitors and students alike can encounter art up close, learn from it, and even help interpret it. Anderson’s leadership comes at a time when the museum’s new home will physically and philosophically expand that access.

“The new space is 2½ times larger than the current facility,” she says. “Our new galleries will serve as true ‘rooms of requirement’ that will allow us to display more of our exceptional collection, host interdisciplinary programs, and create spaces for dialogue and connection.”

Anderson’s credentials suggest she’s more than up for the challenge. At Seattle’s National Nordic Museum, she oversaw the organization’s collections, exhibitions, and programming functions shortly after it moved into a new 56,000-square-foot facility and received a national designation by an act of Congress—changes that redefined the institution’s public role. She led the museum through the pandemic with acuity, launching over 100 hours of digital programming that reached viewers in 70 countries. And under her direction, membership surged as she introduced multisensory, experiential exhibitions like FLÓÐ (Flood), a collaboration with Icelandic musician Jónsi, that drew in new audiences.

“When Leslie came to be chief curator, it really transformed the programmatic side of the museum,” says Erik Pihl, former chief development officer of the National Nordic Museum. “Her impact was legendary.”

FLÓÐ became a benchmark for how contemporary art can evoke emotion, memory, thought, and environmental awareness. That same ability to connect vision to experience is what makes Anderson the right leader for this moment at RMA.

“Leslie’s combination of scholarly depth and administrative acumen makes her a rare find,” says Julie Frey, chair of RMA’s advisory board and a member of the search committee. “She understands both the intellectual and operational dimensions of running a world-class teaching museum.”

Anderson is in the process of actively listening to both campus and Winter Park and Orlando residents about how the museum is serving them and what it can do to better engage them. She wants to take a close look at the intersection of exhibitions and programs and explore creative ways to bring them to life.

“We don’t want to duplicate what other institutions are doing,” she says. “We want to complement them—to make Central Florida an even more vibrant place for art.”

The Next Era

Anderson’s career has taught her that a museum’s true measure lies in its ability to evolve. She has helped oversee major capital projects and navigated redesigns and reopenings with a focus on engagement and storytelling. Her educational and curatorial background—coupled with her MBA from Emory—gives her a 360-degree perspective on what it takes to expand not just a building but a mission.

During an 18-month temporary closure for renovations at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts—where she served as the curator of European, American, and regional art—Anderson led the efforts to keep the community engaged. She partnered with libraries for programs while researching and fundraising for reimagined exhibitions, relaunching the museum with renewed purpose.

“When you move into a new space, you’re not just thinking about where the art hangs,” she says. “It’s a complicated process but also an incredible opportunity—to reimagine how we engage the community, how we tell stories through objects, and how we teach from them.”

With that same strategic creativity, Anderson is looking forward to showcasing more of the museum’s collection—including works by Gilbert Stuart, Maya Lin, and additional pieces from the Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art—and collaborating with faculty and students on their research. She’s also planning to host major traveling exhibitions and interdisciplinary events that invite public participation.

“It all comes back to access,” emphasizes Anderson. “The new RMA facility will let more people experience the inspiration I felt on that childhood trip to Spain while being in the presence of transformative art.”

A New Home

Construction of the new Rollins Museum of Art facility is officially underway. On October 24, the College broke ground on its new downtown Winter Park home, which is scheduled to open in early 2028 and will usher in a new era of growth for the museum.

A Larger Footprint

At 30,000 square feet, the new RMA will be more than double the size of the current facility, greatly enhancing the museum’s ability to present a wider range of exhibitions in both type and scale and increasing opportunities for learning and engagement.

Premium Programming

Anderson explains that a range of new spaces—from flexible workshops and galleries to dedicated study areas and classrooms—will allow RMA to host convenings of creative thought leaders and subject-matter experts. The space will also meet the technical demands of ambitious traveling exhibitions and can accommodate performance art, hands-on workshops, and interdisciplinary events.

Prime Location

RMA’s immediate proximity to The Alfond Inn, which displays works from the RMA’s Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, will enhance guest access to the museum and facilitate community connections