Cindy Meyers Foley

Director & CEO
Grand Rapids Art Museum

"Leading People Centered Museums: Community Building and Change Management"

Cindy Meyers Foley has worked for 30 years helping museums become welcoming spaces that cultivate curiosity and social engagement. She is the Director and CEO of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, an institution committed to being people centered by strategically placing people at the center of all decision making.

Foley curated a number of exhibitions including Playground, 2002 which launched an groundbreaking project, Learning to Love you More. Foley is committed to the role museums play in developing creative thinkers. She has been on the faculty of the Maine College of Art, and Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom Summer Institute and regularly keynotes a variety of Museum, Art, and Education Conferences. Foley has given two TEDX Talks including Teaching Art or Teaching to Think like an Artist. Foley received the 2018 Ohio Distinguished Educator for Art Education award. She was appointed to the Michigan Arts and Culture Council in 2023.