Irvin Lippman stands in the Ohnell Sculpture Garden, one of the improvements to the Boca Raton Museum of Art during his decade as executive director. The sculpture is ‘Music Power II,’ a 2002 bronze by artist Arman. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Mary Hladky
The Boca Raton Museum of Art needed a new executive director, but Jody Harrison Grass was uncertain how to find the best person for the position.
Grass, then vice president of the museum’s Board of Trustees, knew someone she could turn to for advice: Irvin Lippman, who had retired as executive director of the Museum of Art/Fort Lauderdale and returned to his home state of Texas.
As she spoke with him in 2014, Grass casually asked if he might be interested in the job. Yes, Lippman told her in an email the next day, he might.
In a stroke of serendipity, Grass placed that call to Lippman at the right moment.
“It was a cold winter day in Texas, so cold you could not go outside,” he said. “The thought of coming to Florida for six months was very appealing.”
Visiting the museum to discuss a short-term role, Lippman jotted down notes. Those notes, Grass said while laughing, actually were a list of more than 100 items that needed improvement.
In short order, Lippman was hired for the interim position and soon became the permanent director.
“I could see the potential of this museum,” he said. “I could see the enthusiasm of the board.”
Eleven years later, Lippman, 76, retired for the second time effective Jan. 31.
“It has been a wonderful partnership,” Grass said. “Irvin’s vision and humility and his commitment to the arts and art school, education and the community — there are not too many people I have met who have all the qualities Irvin holds.”
“He really brought the museum to what it is today,” said Dalia Stiller, president of the Board of Trustees when Lippman was hired. “He has the fortitude and the vision. I am grateful for everything he has done for the museum and the community.”
Replacement on board
Following a national search, the board announced in October the appointment of Dr. Ena Heller as the museum’s next executive director as of Feb. 3.
Heller previously served as Bruce A. Beal Director of the Rollins Museum of Art in Winter Park and, before that, executive director of the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City. She also has held positions in the Medieval and Education Departments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“I think it is a wonderful choice,” Lippman said.
Before taking the helm at the Fort Lauderdale museum, which became the NSU Art Museum during his nine years there, Lippman served as executive director of the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio, assistant director of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, and in the education department of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Museum improvements
During Lippman’s tenure in Boca Raton, the museum in Mizner Park was transformed inside and out by a $5 million renovation financed by donors.
A significant change was the removal of the west colonnade of the adjacent city amphitheater, which had obscured the museum.
“We had a lot of problems with entrance visibility,” Stiller said. “We got a lot of calls from people who said, ‘We are in Mizner Park and can’t find the museum.’”
In other improvements outside the museum, the Ohnell Sculpture Garden was created and allowed artwork to migrate outside the museum’s walls. Landscaping and additional sculptures were added along Federal Highway that buffer the museum from traffic and allow for a pleasant stroll around the building.
Interior renovations include the lobby and Wolgin Education Center, where children can engage in art activities.
“I am most proud of achieving that,” Lippman said.
Three new galleries are dedicated to African art and the art of ancient America, the museum’s collection of prints and drawings, and the celebration of artists from the local community.
Finally, the restrooms were renovated with Dutch tiles in colors inspired by the Everglades.
“That was my last frontier,” Lippman quipped.
The renovations created better space to host exhibitions, which are the lifeblood of art museums.
Popular exhibitions
Among recent exhibitions that proved wildly popular with the public were the 2021 international premier of “Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru,” featuring 192 artifacts from the Museo Larco in Lima that filled the entire museum, and the Art of Hollywood Backdrop in 2022.
Those boosted attendance by more than 300%, allowing the museum to bounce back from a drop-off caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current exhibition, which coincides with the museum’s 75th anniversary, is “Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and Its Empire,” on view through March 30. It showcases 57 paintings from the Hispanic Society Museum and Library collection by artists such as El Greco, Velázquez and Murillo.
“I was there with my 90-year-old mother who said, ‘I feel like I am in New York City,’” said Grass, now the immediate past board chair.
Mastering relationships
Beyond the museum, Lippman has established a relationship with the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, the 132-acre former IBM headquarters.
BRIC provides a gallery for the museum’s annual Art on BRIC Walls, a juried exhibition that is open to South Florida artists.
“Rocket,” a 30-foot-tall gleaming sculpture of a rocket ship by the late artist Hubert Phipps, stands on the BRIC campus, thanks to Lippman.
Phipps wanted to display “Rocket” at the art museum, but it did not have enough space. So Lippman said he suggested locating it at BRIC, which proved a great location because Phipps was an admirer of Marcel Breuer, who designed the iconic IBM building.
Asked what he considers his most significant accomplishments, Lippman first cites building a strong staff.
“One does not do this alone,” he said. “The most valuable thing in the museum is the staff. In many ways, the director is like a dean of a college where you are encouraging your staff, your professors, to always do the best they can. And that is always how I have taken this role.”
Stiller agrees this was among Lippman’s strengths. “He did a great job in hiring really competent people,” she said. “They were very eager to help and make the public feel welcome.”
Lippman’s retirement will stick this time, he said. He and his husband, William Harkins, will continue to live in Boca Raton.
“We are enamored of the life of the city,” he said. “And we have the good fortune of living across from the beach. … You realize what a very special piece of land it is.”
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