Preserving History

Heard Museum CEO Brings Eclectic Experience

Letitia Chambers, Ph.D., remembers visiting Phoenix’s Heard Museum when she was a child.

“I remember being awed by the Kachina dolls,” she recalls.

And she was just five years old when she bought her first piece of American Indian art. That was just the beginning. Today, she’s an avid collector of contemporary and traditional Indian art and, fittingly, the president and chief executive officer of the Heard Museum.

A former business owner, head of the New Mexico System of Higher Education and ambassador to the United Nations’ General Assembly, Chambers’ experience spans multiple industries — business, government, education, the arts. And since joining the Heard in January 2010, she’s sought to combine her passions.

“This position brings together many of my interests,” she explains. “I’ve been an educational administrator, and the Heard is above all an educational institution.”

Plus, her business experience is at the heart of what she does.

“It’s important for the future of arts institutions to take a business approach,” she says. “And that’s what I’m trying to bring to the Heard. In addition, I also bring my own Indian heritage, being of Cherokee descent.”

When she arrived nearly two years ago, she came with plenty of ideas for exhibits. But what she found was she needed to first tend to IT infrastructure issues, accounting system updates and even the building itself — parts of which are more than 80 years old.

“We are working to prepare our building for the next 100 years, which is fitting during Arizona’s centennial,” she notes.

Chambers also led efforts to open a bookstore at the museum as well as a cantina that is open outside of the museum restaurant’s lunch hours. And you’ll find a new sculpture garden as well. Now, she is turning her attention to increasing the museum’s educational programming and enhancing the exhibits.

“We have wonderful exhibits and a great curatorial staff,” she says. “We want to keep a balance between historical exhibits and traditional and contemporary art. I think that’s really important.”

Part of Chambers’ impact has been changing the way the museum plans its exhibits — going from 18 months to four years.

"The longer lead-time we have, the better job we can do,” she says. “We can have time to seek sponsorships, for example.”

And in the next two to three years, the payoff will come.

“We have a couple exhibits that will be great blockbusters,” she says. “We hope to raise the level of the museum’s exhibits from really great to superb.”

When Chambers isn’t planning blockbuster exhibits for the Heard, she devotes time to serving on the board of the Vermont College of Fine Arts as well as spending time with her husband enjoying the Phoenix area’s many local arts and culture hot spots.

“We like to go to the arts venues around town,” she says. “The arts here are stronger than many people realize.”

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This story, written by Stephanie Conner, is part of the Chamber's monthly Businesswise for Women email. To sign up for any or all of the Chamber's email newsletters, click here.