Art museum administrator who connects people to art and to each other.
Charlie Garling is the inaugural Delaware North Director of Learning & Creativity at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. He is a senior leadership team member responsible for strategy and oversight of education, interpretation, community engagement, and programs—helping guests be inspired, create, share, and connect.
As a part of the museum’s 2019-2023 groundbreaking transformation, Charlie dramatically expanded and redesigned audience experiences with a community-centric, co-creation approach, providing platforms for underrepresented voices and avenues for community authorship of programs and events.
During this time, he led a pioneering partnership with the LEGO Foundation to design, fabricate, and activate Creative Commons, a dedicated space for learning through play at the heart of the museum’s campus. He was responsible for overseeing the development and realization of the AKG’s education wing, including the museum’s first Family Room for young children and their caregivers; a digital media studio; three multipurpose studio art spaces, and a community gallery. He also oversaw the development and implementation of the museum’s first comprehensive interpretive plan and a new innovative audio tour.
Before this, Charlie served as the inaugural Director of Studio Programs at the Detroit Institute of Arts. He set the vision for the museum’s creative practices and oversaw and expanded a robust array of artmaking programs developed with and for diverse audiences of all ages and abilities.
Charlie’s work has been recognized in The New York Times, ArtDaily, ArtNet, MuseumNext, The Art Newspaper, and The Business Journals, among other publications.
Prior to museum leadership, he served as public school art teacher for over a decade, a teacher union representative, and a member of the College for Creative Studies’ Art Education Advisory Council.
Charlie is currently earning his doctorate at the University at Buffalo. He earned a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Art Education from Michigan State University.
Photo: Jeff Mace, 2022.