Ruby Lerner is an American arts executive. She ran Creative Capital, an arts foundation, from 1999 to 2016. Under her leadership, Creative Capital committed $40 million in financial and advisory support to 511 projects representing 642 artists. She stepped down from the organization in June 2016. Beginning in January 2017, Lerner became the inaugural Herberger Institute Policy Fellow at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and Senior Fellow to the Patty Disney Center for Life and Work at CalArts. She serves on the board of directors for Light Industry in Brooklyn, New York. She is also on national advisory boards for the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California; the McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina; the

Ackland Art Museum The Ackland Art Museum is a museum and academic unit of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was founded through the bequest of William Hayes Ackland (1855–1940) to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is located a ...

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

; The University of Kentucky Art Museum; and SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine. She serves on the exhibition committee for the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Lerner studied

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, where she currently serves on the Art Advisory Committee.

Honors and awards

In 2016, Lerner was awarded honorary degrees from the Maryland Institute College of Art and Maine College of Art. Lerner was a 30th Anniversary ArtTable Honoree (2011). She is recipient of the Art in General Visionary Award (2016), the John L. Haber Award from the University of North Carolina (2009), the Catalyst Award from the

National Association of Artists' Organizations The National Association of Artists' Organizations (NAAO) was, from 1982 through the early 2000s, a Washington, D.C.-based arts service organization which, at its height, had a constituency of over 700 artists' organizations, arts institutions, arti ...

(2007), the BAXten Award from the Brooklyn Arts Exchange (2007), a Creative Leadership Award from the

Alliance of Artists Communities The Alliance of Artists Communities is an international non-profit arts organization. Founded in 1991 following a pilot program and recommendation through the MacArthur Foundation, the organization is focused on advocacy, promotion, and cultiv ...

(2005), the Artist Advocate Award from the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations (2003) and a Special Citation from Artists Space for her support of individual artists (2003).

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Goucher College alumni {{art-stub