(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass., November 3, 2011) – Norman Rockwell Museum director/CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt is one of 100 executive leaders in the cultural sector across the nation chosen to participate in National Arts Strategies‘ highly competitive Chief Executive Program.

Over the course of the next two years, Ms. Norton Moffatt will engage in discussions with colleagues from the U.S. and abroad about concrete issues like budgeting, financial stability, marketing, and development, as well as abstract problems like the role of the arts in modern life and maintaining relevance in a diverse, rapidly changing world.

NAS’s Chief Executive Program is a two-year initiative designed to unleash the collective power of 100 of the top executive leaders in the cultural sector to solve problems facing the industry. These leaders will re-imagine what cultural institutions will be and how they can contribute to civil society. The Chief Executive program was developed through the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Fidelity Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation.

The group had their first meeting at the University of Michigan Ross Business School in October.

National Arts Strategies (NAS) runs leadership programs for organizations from all disciplines, and its underwritten tuition and travel expenses make events accessible to organizations of all budget sizes. This investment in leadership capacity has produced the sector’s most diverse leadership community of alumni and faculty. It has also generated changes in the language and core management frameworks used by grantee organizations; partnerships to advance the full range of educational services available to the field; and policy discussions with leading grantmakers to enhance field capacity building.

Norman Rockwell Museum is the preeminent museum of American illustration art. Dedicated to art education and art appreciation inspired by the enduring legacy of Norman Rockwell, the Museum stewards the world’s largest and most significant collection of Rockwell art, and presents the works of contemporary and past masters of illustration.

The Museum’s holdings include Rockwell’s last studio, moved from its original location to the Museum grounds, and the Norman Rockwell Archives, a 200,000-object collection undergoing digital preservation through ProjectNORMAN, “A Save America’s Treasures Project.”

The Museum is also home to the new Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, the nation’s first research institute devoted to the art of illustration. In 2008, Norman Rockwell Museum became the first-ever museum recipient of the National Humanities Medal, America’s highest honor in the field.

Norman Rockwell Museum is located on 36 park-like acres in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Rockwell’s hometown for the last 25 years of his life. The Museum is open year-round. From May through October, hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; from November through April, hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Rockwell’s studio is open May through October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission is $16, $14.50 for seniors, $10 for students, $5 for kids and teens 6 to 18, and free for Museum members and children 5 and under. Visit the Museum online at Norman Rockwell Museum.