In addition to distributing grants, the Pew Center has initiatives for collaborations and fostering creative leadership in the cultural sector. So does the Barnes, which was founded on an educational mission.
“We, over the years, have done many convenings around cultural practice. The Barnes does that work as well,” she said. “The potential for the two organizations to get together on this work and increase its impact for the cultural sector will be greater than the sum of the parts.”
The partnership will likely be the last major effort by Marincola at the Barnes. She is stepping down in October. Marincola has been the head of the Center for 17 years and was planning to end her tenure when the unexpected closing of UArts created an organizational upheaval.
With the Barnes partnership established, Marincola can now contemplate the next chapter of her career.
“I have loved every minute of the ride,” she said of leading the center that, in many ways, shaped Philadelphia’s cultural sector. “The good, the bad, all of it. It’s just been extraordinary.”
The Pew-Barnes partnership highlights the Barnes Foundation’s growing ambitions, as it is also the administrator of the new Calder Gardens, a museum and center dedicated to the work of artist Alexander Calder that will open across the street from the Barnes on the Parkway in September.
Collins said the Barnes will play a much more active role in the daily operations of the Calder Gardens than the Pew Center, such as hiring staff and administering curation.
He said the two new administrative roles signal an expanded role for the Barnes Foundation.
“I’m happy to say that we’re a healthy organization and we’re also an ambitious organization,” Collins said. “We always ask ourselves in our strategic conversations: ‘What more can we as an institution be doing in support of Philadelphia’s artists and arts institutions?’”