American Society of Botanical Artists Announces New Executive Director

BRONX, N.Y. - June 21, 2016 - PRLog -- The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) announced today that Lori K. van Handel will become its Executive Director effective September 16, 2016. She will assume the responsibilities of outgoing Executive Director Robin Jess who served ASBA in that role for 13 years.

"We are delighted that ASBA will be the beneficiary of Lori's long experience in the art, museum, and education worlds," said Jody Williams, President of ASBA's Board of Directors. "Lori's leadership of her own art conservation practice (Heritage Consulting Services) and prior roles as head of the Department of Preventive Conservation at Williamstown Art Conservation Center (MA), manager of the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Program at Williams College, adjunct museum studies professor at Tufts University, and special events coordinator for the Williams College Museum of Art have given her proficiency in managerial and financial administration, grant writing, outreach, and event planning and execution."

Lori holds a B.A. in art history from the University of Washington, Seattle and an M.A. in art conservation from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.

She belongs to the New England and Allegheny Highlands chapters of ASBA, and the National Capital Region artists' circle.

"I love plants and while living in England, I studied Botanical Painting at the English Gardening School [now Chelsea School of Botanical Art]," she said. "Although I studied fine art and art conservation, and had many challenging projects throughout my career, nothing compares to the magic and the all-consuming nature of my botanical art study. My enthusiasm for the genre combined with a career advocating on behalf of cultural heritage, history and tradition all contribute to my commitment to support botanical art and ASBA in my new role."

The American Society of Botanical Artists (http://www.asba-art.org) has over 1500 individual and institutional members in 26 countries. ASBA's mission is to provide a thriving interactive community dedicated to perpetuating the tradition and contemporary practice of botanical art. ASBA capitalizes on botanical art's power to raise ecological awareness and enrich the lives of its members and the general public through botanical art instruction, fine art exhibitions, publications, and educational outreach.