Art museum leader advancing how people connect to art and to each other.
Charlie Garling is the inaugural Delaware North Director of Learning & Creativity at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and a member of the museum’s senior leadership team.
He sets the vision and oversees strategy across education, interpretation, public engagement, accessibility, and community and university partnerships, leading a multidisciplinary team that shapes how audiences experience and participate in the museum.
During the museum’s 2019–2023 $230M transformation, he played a central leadership role in redesigning audience experience through a reimagining of the museum’s program suite, using a community-centered, co-creation approach to expand opportunities for audience participation and shared authorship across programs and initiatives.
He led development of the museum’s first institution-wide interpretive plan and designed and implemented key elements of the museum’s education and engagement infrastructure, including Creative Commons, a dedicated play-based learning space developed in partnership with the LEGO Foundation; a family space for children ages four and under and their caregivers; and a suite of studios for artmaking and digital media.
He continues to oversee these spaces as part of the museum’s public experience strategy.
This work reflects a broader shift toward participatory, experimental, and play-based approaches to engaging audiences with art and with each other.
Previously, he served as the inaugural Director of Studio Programs at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where he developed and expanded public-facing creative programs for audiences of all ages and abilities.
There, he founded the museum’s first public art program, partnering with municipalities and communities across Southeast Michigan to create murals and sculptures in public space, extending the museum’s civic presence beyond its walls.
This work strengthened regional engagement and trust, contributing to significant long-term public investment in the institution.
His work has been recognized by ArtDaily, Artnet, The Art Newspaper, Buffalo Toronto Public Media, and The New York Times, among others.
He has presented at conferences including MuseumNext and French American Museum Exchange (FRAME), as well as other museum and cultural forums, on themes of play, co-creation, and visitor experience.
He began his career as a public school art teacher and served on the College for Creative Studies Art Education Advisory Council.
He holds a Doctor of Education from the University at Buffalo in Learning and Teaching in Social Contexts, a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, and a BFA in Art Education from Michigan State University.
His dissertation, “Permission to Play,” examines how ludic engagement can restore cognitive and somatic reserves and dismantle psychological barriers that can inhibit a genuine sense of belonging in cultural institutions.
He received an award from the Graduate School of Education for research “…not just academically sound but also engaging, thought-provoking, and accessible to a wide audience” and “demonstrated an ability to communicate complex ideas in a compelling way.”
Recently, he co-curated Made at the Museum, an AKG exhibition featuring work by artists with disabilities and highlighting the museum’s long-standing accessibility initiatives.