John Sterr, the new executive director of the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and Charles Allis Art Museum, will update Historic Water Tower Neighborhood about plans for the two area institutions at our June 3, 2015, monthly meeting.
A native of Whitefish Bay with a background in operations management, historic preservation and marketing, John was appointed to his position in November 2014 after serving three years as marketing manager of the museums. He has an impressive record of accomplishments and will speak about current and future arts and cultural programming of these two iconic neighborhood institutions.
John is a native of Whitefish Bay and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Broad Field Social Studies from Cardinal Stritch University. He has extensive operations management experience, working ten years in the airline industry, before leaving to pursue a career in historic preservation. Sterr helped create the Cottage Home Neighborhood Conservation District Plan in Indianapolis, while restoring his 1889 Victorian home in the neighborhood. Before returning to Milwaukee, he was the operations manager for a small historic renovation and design company working in the heart of Indianapolis.
In his role as the museums’ marketing manager, John founded the Milwaukee Museum Mile in 2011 with the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Museum of Wisconsin Art at Saint John’s On The Lake and the North Point Lighthouse to jointly raise the profile of the organizations. He has also been involved with planning and execution of membership, event, curatorial and facilities projects at both museums.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday June 3, 2015, in the Marcia Coles Community Room of Lake Park Pavilion. Come a few minutes early for coffee and cookies courtesy of Lake Park Bistro.