Sonoma Valley Museum of Art names new executive director

Linda Cano, until 2014 executive director of the Fresno Art Museum, has been named the new Executive Director of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, and is slated to start in mid-February. She replaces Kate Eilertsen, who resigned late last year.

“I cannot imagine a better fit for SVMA’s leadership than Linda Cano,” said Board President Douglas Fenn Wilson. “From the get-go, we caught a whiff of intelligence, integrity, prescience and curatorial experience that cannot help but lift our museum to the next level.”

Cano was selected from a pool of candidates, chosen not only for her executive experience in Fresno but with her own firm, AXIS Art Consulting, on the Mariposa Plaza Activation Project. She was primary partner and grant co-author for the public art plan in Fresno.

In addition, she has taught at the California State University, Fresno, from 1993 to 2010 in both the Art and Design and Classical Languages and Literature departments. She holds a Master of Arts degree from CSUF.

Following Eilertsen’s departure, Yvonne Hall served as the museum’s interim director and was a member of the executive search committee. Saying she was “thrilled to have Linda Cano join the museum,” Hall added that “The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is in a great position as we look forward to 2016.”

The Sonoma Valley Museum of Modern Art is located at 551 Broadway. Additional information is online at www.svma.org.