Kevin Sharp (photo courtesy Dixon Gallery and Gardens)
Kevin Sharp announced on Thursday that he plans to retire after 19 years as head of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Sharp will continue leading the museum and 17-acre garden through the summer of 2027, or until his successor is found.
Sharp, whose title is Linda W. and S. Herbert Rhea Director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, joined the institution in 2007 as the sixth director in the museum’s now 50-year history. “It has been a privilege to lead the Dixon for almost 20 years, but it’s time to turn the reins over to a new generation of museum leadership,” Sharp said in a statement. “I cannot imagine having served a finer institution than the Dixon and a greater and more supportive community than Memphis.”
During his tenure at the Dixon, Sharp expanded the Dixon’s collections, organized internationally recognized exhibitions, improved the gardens, and expanded community engagement. Under his leadership, the Dixon acquired more than 600 works of fine and decorative art, a significant addition to one of the Mid-South’s premier collections of French and American Impressionism and modern art. He also championed the elimination of admission fees.
Sharp also led the completion of the Liz and Tommy Farnsworth Education Building in 2019, creating the museum’s first dedicated facility for education programs. Notably, as the longest-serving director in the Dixon’s history, he led the institution through two successful reaccreditation campaigns through the American Alliance of Museums, and doubled the Dixon’s membership revenue, annual visitation, and operating budget.
Before joining the Dixon, Sharp served as research curator at the Art Institute of Chicago; curator of American Art at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida; and director of Visual Arts at Cedarhurst in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. As a scholar of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century French and American art, Sharp has organized more than 60 exhibitions throughout his career and has authored or contributed to more than 30 books and exhibition catalogues.
Earlier this year, he was recognized as a CEO of the Year by Memphis Magazine. Interviewed for the occasion, he spoke of what he aimed to do for the institution. “We think that putting the Dixon on the map in a national and international way pays dividends for our local community. It doesn’t mean every show’s going to be about Memphis or have some Memphis element in it, but everything we do is for Memphis. And the bigger we stretch nationally and internationally, the better the product we produce for our folks right here.”
