Lynda Roscoe Hartigan has been the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum since 2021. During this time, one of her main goals has been to make PEM a more magnetic destination, a place people feel drawn to and compelled to stay connected with. After being connected to PEM in multiple leadership roles — Chief Curator, Deputy Director and, most recently, the museum’s first woman Executive Director and CEO — for more than 20 years, Lynda recently announced her departure to serve as the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  

During her tenure at PEM, Lynda has focused on balancing the museum as a globally engaged and community-centered organization. She has often championed creativity as a way of addressing a range of issues, from climate change to the loneliness epidemic. She has said that creativity is a nurturing force in our lives that offers hope and belief in what human beings can accomplish, individually and collectively. With her departure, Lynda leaves the museum in a strong position, with a five-year strategic plan to guide meaningful, thought-provoking experiences that connect people across time, place and culture. 

As our fearless leader, Lynda has always been open to probing questions from our staff. So before she sets sail from PEM for our nation’s capital on June 30, Lynda sat down with us to answer just a few more questions. 

Q: Why the focus on a human-centered museum? What is it about people feeling seen and heard here at the museum that you think is important? 

A: This goes way back for me, in terms of why I think museums can be important in people's lives. What we're celebrating has all been created by human beings, and museums provide ways for us to learn, be inspired and make connections. PEM lays some groundwork for understanding what we share — and sometimes, why differences are meaningful.

This is a place that was founded for the benefit of a community. So that notion of serving and connecting the people around us  is just part of our DNA, and it’s why people can feel a sense of belonging and welcome here. It's about celebrating humanness and how creativity supports that. It’s about just wanting people to walk in the door and feel seen and heard. Why is that? Well, I think there's something almost intangibly undefinable that this museum exudes. Many people say that PEM is so friendly and some of that may be the architecture, but I think it’s also the opportunity for people to understand that art can be a meaningful part of their lives. We are committed to offering friendly, meaningful, intelligent, authentic, emotionally and more sensorially oriented experiences. All of this helps reduce barriers that people put up when they think that art might not be for them.

Also, we have an incredible staff. Really talented, committed, human in terms of how they care about their work and about each other and our audiences. And so, working over these years to make sure that our staff feels supported is one of the ways in which the organization has been able to advance. Because first and foremost, it needs to be relevant for the staff.

Q: What would you say is your proudest accomplishment as director? 

A: The fact that we have been very impact-oriented and have understood how that can work through a well-organized, thoughtful and aspirational strategic plan has been one of the things that I'm really proud of. When I started as director here in August of 2021, the museum was in need of healing. Many museums were in that circumstance. We had some very specific reasons, in addition to the pandemic, because there had been a series of leadership transitions. I am grateful and gratified that I have been able to lead the museum through an important transitional phase to get us to where we are now, thriving.

That all goes back to paying attention to people. Our staff, our board, our audiences, our supporters. There are all kinds of projects and initiatives but, overarchingly, having moved the museum to the point where it can continue to be great for people is what I'm really proud of.

Q: What has surprised you most about the last five years at PEM? 

A: If “surprised” can translate into being “pleased,” I think one of the things would definitely be the resilience and the determination of the staff. I wasn't surprised by it. But you do wonder when you go through hardships and challenging times, how long does that last? Can it continue? 

Here's a silly example of surprise. I give Kurt (Steinburg, PEM’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of Collection Services) all the credit for this. During last fall’s busy tourist season, we tried our mac and cheese pop-up shop. Who knew that our partners Gourmet Catering could produce mac and cheese, including the lobster, which I loved, that would be affordable and appealing to so many people coming to Salem. It was a great success and that's an example of that intrinsically entrepreneurial part of PEM.

One of my proudest accomplishments would be the massive installation project that we took on as part of opening the new wing in 2019. Having such fresh, distinctive interpretation for the maritime collections, the Asian export collection, the fashion and design collection, South Asian art and our new American and Native American installation, reinforced and pushed forward, accelerated our reputation among American museums. 

Q: What advice would you give to future museum leaders? 

A: I think future museum leaders need to figure out their individual version of courage and humility and to understand the value of persistence when you believe in something. It's important to have your own personal North Star set of values that can shape you as a professional.

Some of it goes back to knowing what you are genuinely committed to. Where are your ethical boundaries? What are you prepared to fight for? What are you prepared to inspire? Humility is actually a statement about understanding that you cannot do it all by yourself. So understanding how to build relationships or teams or partners in order to get done what you want and need to get done is important.

Q: What’s your self-care plan that gives you the stamina and energy to keep going forward?  

A: Yeah, I keep being told I have so much energy, thank God. Self-care…okay, well, I work a lot. I owe a tremendous amount to my family and friends. I've now been married to my husband Roger for 42 years, and he's been an incredible source of support. And valuing lifelong friendships, because those are the people you can turn to in the tough times and the good times. I don't have a lot of hobbies, but in the midst of working a lot, I have made time for family, and I have made time for travel. I do try to have a manicure regularly, and partly because I've had pinched nerve issues in my neck on and off, I've learned the value of a massage. I read a lot, mostly fiction. But it's valuing yourself enough that you give yourself the time you need to be your best. It's just really important.

Q: What did fashion icon Iris Apfel, featured in our Fashion & Design gallery, teach you about reinvention, challenging yourself and being a lifelong learner before her death in 2024 at the age of 102? 

A: Ageism, unfortunately, is an active force in our culture. Part of what I found inspiring about Iris was not even the notion of reinvention, because for the most part, up until the end, she was healthy cognitively and physically. Making sure that you find your way of continuing to contribute and to be meaningful is important. Just because you're 65 doesn't mean you have to be retiring as an individual. So I think that's one of the biggest lessons for me from Iris. 

Lord knows there are some people, I'm sure, who would look at her style and go, “oh my, how bizarre” or “eccentric” or “how daring” or what have you. But her point was to find your way to express your identity. And sometimes she did that verbally. Oftentimes, she did that visually. But she also did it through her business acumen. So, multiple lessons were learned from Iris. It's important to find the ways in which you can believe in yourself. There have to be some unshakeable things that you hold to yourself.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has an incredible collection of American art and culture and craft and visual culture. So being able to work with that kind of collection, to work with that staff, to also help to uphold the integrity of what the Smithsonian Institution is overarchingly about serving the public good through lifelong learning opportunities. Upholding that integrity in these times is possibly going to be the biggest challenge. But, I think in challenging times there are always opportunities and ways to do good work regardless of the circumstances.

What excites me and what will be a good challenge in the most positive way, is: what can that museum accomplish with authenticity, dignity and openness? Because I believe in the power of American artists to inspire us, to help us question and to help us find ways to be together as opposed to apart. 

Q: How has it felt to receive all of this positive attention and heartfelt goodbyes from staff and locals as you forge your next chapter? 

A: There are people who have told me the fact that I'm going to take this job has actually helped them renew their sense of patriotism, which is a reaction that I just would never have imagined. 

I have to say, there’s been a tsunami, an avalanche, an outpouring of messages of support and encouragement that have been kind of overwhelming and definitely humbling. I've also been surprised at how many staff want to hug me. It's setting the bar pretty high for me. But, you know, truly, I've just been touched by the messages. I am at a point in my career where I know myself well enough that I know I'm up to the opportunity and the challenge, but I'm not going to do that alone. And I think one of the things I bring to this whole opportunity is the fact that I somehow managed to gather people to a common cause to do good or to think differently in ways that are constructive. So that's what I have to count on.