Our fearless leader, Vicki Bourns, is driving off into the retirement sunset at the end of June 2026. Since she became the director of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums in 2017, Vicki has accomplished remarkable things. She led the division as we navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing our timely distribution of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding from the federal government. She was recognized by Zions Bank for this effort and received the Sundance Film Festival 2021 Sundance Women’s Leadership Celebration award. Vicki steered our response to the March 2020 Salt Lake City earthquake and the agency’s subsequent move from the Rio Grande Depot. Under her careful shepherding, our state grants budget and allocation from the National Endowment for the Arts increased. Vicki championed the agency’s involvement in the new Museum of Utah, and she led our celebration of the division’s recent 125th anniversary. Her colleagues have appreciated her calm and professional demeanor, her welcoming spirit and kindness, and her work in leading the charge for all of Utah’s cultural organizations.
During her tenure, Vicki served on the Executive Residence Commission and was ex-officio for the Governor’s Mansion Foundation/Artist Series Committee. She chaired the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts & Parks Tier I advisory board for two years and served on the WESTAF (currently known as Creative West) board. Also during her service, Americans for the Arts honored Governor Gary Herbert with its Governors Arts Leadership Award. The exhibition “Transcontinental: People, Place, Impact” marked the 150th anniversary of the completion of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. The division launched “Breaking Barriers,” a course about accessibility training for the cultural community. The agency received Institute for Museum and Library Services funding ($500,000) for a three-year measurement of museum social impact. Our museum services staff, in partnership with Utah Humanities, was awarded funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create the Utah Community Preservation Program to train professionals across the state who manage cultural collections. Our division began its creative aging program with a grant from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, in partnership with E. A. Michelson Philanthropy. The agency’s visual art fellowship program expanded to offer awards to performing and literary artists as well. The division commissioned artist Heath Satow to create “AMH:1898,” a sculpture honoring Alice Merrill Horne, the founder of our agency.
Vicki has been a steadfast supporter of the division’s team, offering the staff guidance, encouragement, and wisdom. We will miss her!
From Vicki:
After 46 years of working in the cultural community, I look back with gratitude for every role, mentor, challenge, and opportunity that brought me to this moment. Each chapter has prepared me for the next. This decision to retire comes with deep gratitude, pride, and optimism. I leave with great confidence in the future of the division. Donna Law’s leadership at the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement will ensure a smooth and impactful transition, and I know that she and her team will bring the right person into this role. I am deeply grateful to Jill Love for allowing me to serve in this position, and to Donna for her steadfast support of both the division and me.
I am profoundly thankful for the opportunities I have been given and for the remarkable colleagues I have had the privilege to work alongside. I have been fortunate to be part of a community defined by passion, creativity, service, and an unwavering commitment to the public good. Working with people who care so deeply about our cultural life has been one of the great joys of my career.
This next chapter holds time for family, travel, and advocacy. I’m excited about rewiring, reconnecting with my creative roots, and continuing to support arts and museums in new and altered ways. Retirement, for me, is not an ending but an opening. I look forward to dancing into the future with the freedom to experience life a little differently. Thank you all for the trust, collaboration, and shared purpose over the years.
