Few leaders have shaped the relationship between art, culture, and public life as profoundly as either Michael Govan or Darren Walker. Together, they’ll take the stage in Los Angeles to discuss leadership, art, and LA’s cultural landscape.
As CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Michael has spent two decades reconsidering what a major museum can be—and how it can better serve the city around it. His leadership has guided a sweeping transformation of LACMA’s campus, culminating in the opening of the new David Geffen Galleries.
Darren Walker spent over a decade at the helm of the Ford Foundation and currently serves as the president of the board of the National Gallery of Art and president and CEO of Anonymous Content, a global media production company. The connecting thread of each of his roles is a dedication to championing artists, institutions, and ideas with the power to expand how people understand the world.
Incidentally, the two also both reside in iconic modernist homes in Los Angeles: Michael and his wife, Katherine Ross, live in the Ray Kappe-designed Waymire House; Darren recently acquired Paul Revere Williams’s own home—with advice from Michael. They are, quite literally, living in the fabric of LA’s cultural legacy.
At the Design Summit, Michael and Darren will consider how cultural organizations can remain true to their purpose while evolving for the future. Their conversation will explore leadership, institutional change, and the role that art, architecture, and storytelling play in shaping public life.
To see Michael and Darren onstage at the Design Summit, secure your registration here.
