Indianapolis’s Newfields Taps Le Monte G. Booker Sr. as Next President and CEO

Newfields, the campus housing the Indianapolis Museum of Art, has named Le Monte G. Booker Sr. as its new president and chief executive officer. Booker arrives to the institution from Chicago’s Field Museum, where he is chief financial officer. He will be the third person to occupy the dual roles at Newfields in four years as the museum continues to rebuild its reputation, which was shattered by a 2021 racism scandal.

“I am thrilled to start my next chapter as the CEO of Newfields, which is an outstanding example of a cornerstone cultural institution,” said Booker in a statement, further noting that he “look[s] forward to working with the board, staff and Central Indiana community to continue to meet the mission of enriching lives through exceptional experiences with art and nature at this special institution.”

Booker has served as the Field Museum’s CFO for the past nine years. Prior roles include those of CFO at several nonprofit organizations, including Easter Seals and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management from Chicago’s DePaul University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Lisle, Illinois.

“Mr. Booker stood out not only for meeting all of our initial search criteria, but also for bringing fresh perspectives we hadn’t previously considered to the process,” said Newfields board chair Darrianne Christian in a statement. “His extensive museum experience gives him a comprehensive understanding of how institutions like Newfields need to operate to thrive.”

The museum has struggled to retain a permanent president and CEO since its longtime leader, Charles Venable, resigned in February 2021 after the institution posted an online ad seeking a director capable of helping it diversify while maintaining its “traditional, core, white art audience.” Newfields after a monthslong search appointed Colette Pierce Burnette president and CEO in May 2022. The onetime president of Austin’s Huston-Tillotson University, a historically Black university, Burnette was the first Black woman to lead the museum since its 1883 founding. She exited in November 2023 after fifteen months on the job; neither she nor Newfields has to date offered any reason for her departure. Former board member Michael Kubacki, chairman of Indiana’s Lake City Bank, has occupied the roles on an interim basis. Booker, whom the museum said beat out more than two hundred applicants, will take over from Kubacki at the end of October.