ACTION MAVERICK AWARD BENEFIT

LISA PHILLIPS
TOBY DEVAN LEWIS DIRECTOR, NEW MUSEUM 

Lisa Phillips has been the Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum since 1999. During her tenure she has dramatically expanded the Museum, its Board, staff, attendance, and budget, and continues to diversify its leadership and audience. Phillips spearheaded and realized the Museum’s first dedicated building (2007) designed by the leading architects SANAA, who subsequently won the Pritzker Prize. In so doing, she established the Museum as a top international cultural destination with a critically acclaimed exhibition program rivaling the best in the world. Phillips also co-founded NEW INC (2014), the first museum-led incubator for cultural creatives. She is currently leading a second building expansion by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas.

Previously Phillips was a curator at the Whitney Museum, where she organized mid-career surveys of Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, and Terry Winters, as well as thematic exhibitions, including “ High Styles: 20th Century American Design” (1985); “Image World: Art and Media Culture” (1989); “Beat Culture and the New America” (1995); and “The American Century” (1999); among many others. She has authored over thirty books, lectured extensively around the world, was on the Fulbright Review Committee, and was a visiting critic at Yale University. She has been named a “Top New Yorker” by  New York Magazine, “Top 100 Business Women of the Year” by  Crain’s, and “Most Creative People in Business” by  Fast Company.