Columbia Museum of Art chooses well-known nonprofit leader as interim director
A familiar face in Columbia’s nonprofit world is set to lead a key downtown art museum on an interim basis as it searches for its next director.
Robin Waites, who is the former longtime executive director of Historic Columbia, will be the interim executive director of the Columbia Museum of Art as of April 1, according to a release from the museum. The move comes as Della Watkins departs her role as the museum’s executive director.
Watkins, who led Main Street’s Columbia Museum of Art since 2017, announced last fall she would be leaving the role in April to care for her elderly parents in Virginia. The museum formed a search committee for a new leader last fall, and formally launched its search in January, it noted in a release, with the call for applicants open through March.
With Waites, the downtown art museum will be getting, at least in the interim, a well-known leader in the Columbia nonprofit scene. For more than two decades she helped shape Historic Columbia into a local powerhouse, leading efforts in the preservation and contextualization of local history. She retired from Historic Columbia in 2024, and the organization later announced it would establish the Robin Waites Community Engagement Center on the grounds of the Robert Mills House and Gardens.
“As the CMA enters this period of transition, we are pleased and fortunate to have Robin step into the interim leadership role,” Columbia Museum of Art board president Therese Griffin said in a release. “Robin has been a longtime supporter of the CMA and understands the importance of its mission to Columbia, the state, and the region. She will help ensure continuity of operations while also helping to bridge the museum’s stewardship efforts.”
