Jewish Museum Appoints James S. Snyder Director

Snyder began his career as an intern at MoMA in 1974, working his way up to deputy director. In 1997, he moved to Jerusalem to direct the Israel Museum. During his twenty-year stint there, he oversaw a $100 million expansion of the museum, doubled attendance, and increased its endowment to $200 million. In 2018, Snyder moved back to New York and by 2019, he was appointed executive chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation. 

Snyder’s passion for Jewish art and history, knowledge of donors, and extensive strategies for social, cultural, and economic development for museum growth make him a perfect candidate for the job. 

In his own words, in an article for Sapir Journal on the role of museums post-Covid, Snyder said, “Museums dedicated to specific cultures, like Jewish museums and others devoted to singular themes or subjects, can and should take advantage of the opportunity to look at examples of their cultures in the context of when and where they were created," 

In the announcement, first reported by the New York Times, Snyder remarked how the Jewish Museum’s location in the previous home of Felix and Frieda Warburg and its closeness to other institutions along Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile grounds the museum in New York City history. He mentioned that collaboration with other culturally specific museums, such as El Museo del Barrio, the Studio Museum of Harlem, and the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, would be an “important part of the Jewish Museum’s future.”

“The opportunity is to explore how we can play a leadership role around societal issues like antisemitism and demonstrate the importance of culturally specific institutions in advancing the dialogue on these topics through our exhibitions and education programming," said Robert A. Pruzan, the museum’s board chairman, about Snyder's appointment.

With everything that Snyder has to say on the future of museums, his track record at various institutions, his connections with the Jewish art world and the art world at large, and his fundraising skills, he has the makings to continue the great legacy of the Jewish Museum.