The Cleveland Museum of Art Names Virginia “Gini” Barbato Chair of the Board of Trustees

CLEVELAND (September 17, 2025)—The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) today announced the election of Virginia “Gini” Barbato as chair of its board of trustees. A trustee since 2003, Barbato succeeds Ellen Stirn Mavec, whose dynamic leadership advanced several of the museum’s most significant strategic and philanthropic initiatives. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Gini as our new board chair,” said William M. Griswold, the CMA’s Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director and president. “Her deep history with the CMA and her wide-ranging relationships nationally and internationally will be invaluable as we enter the museum’s next chapter. She is poised to be a key leader of our extraordinary board of trustees in achieving the CMA’s goals and fulfilling the museum’s vision and promise.” 

Barbato is widely recognized for her leadership with arts organizations both in Cleveland and New York City, where she serves on the board of trustees of the Frick Collection and the Metropolitan Opera. At the CMA, she is the immediate past chair of the Collections Committee, where she has been a member since 2004. She has also served on the museum’s Finance and Executive Committees, as treasurer of the CMA Womens Council, and as chair of the museum’s Education Advisory Committee. 

Her philanthropy and family legacy are equally notable. Barbato and her husband Randy endowed the CMA’s deputy director and chief curator position, and through the Eric and Jane Nord Family Fund, founded by her parents, created three endowed conservation roles: the Eric and Jane Nord Chief Conservator, the Eric and Jane Nord Conservation Scientist, and the Eric and Jane Nord Conservation Science Fellow. Her leadership builds on decades of critical support that she and her family have provided to the museum, including naming of the CMA conservation suite, funding to support the CMA’s Community Arts Center and support for the Nord Family Greenway on the CMA’s Fine Arts Campus. 

Beyond her work with the CMA, Barbato is president of the Eric and Jane Nord Family Fund and a member of the board of trustees of the Nord Family Foundation in Amherst, Ohio. She also serves as a trustee of both the Cleveland Orchestra and Ideastream Public Media, and has contributed her expertise to committees and panels of the Council on Foundations and the Ohio Grantmakers Forum.  

Her past service includes board roles with Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Opera, Vocational Guidance Services, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, as well as visiting committee positions at Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School and College of Arts and Sciences. 

Barbato earned her bachelor of arts degree in history from Case Western Reserve University. She and her husband have three sons and reside in Cleveland. 

Barbato succeeds Mavec, whose tenure as chair set fundraising records for the CMA. Through her “Chair’s Challenge,” Mavec named the curator of decorative arts position and provided transformational support for four key areas of the CMA’s strategic plan: exhibitions, endowed positions, the renovation of the museum’s lobby, and the landscape master plan for the Fine Arts Campus.  

“There is so much we have accomplished over the past three years, and the momentum the museum has built is especially meaningful to me and my family,” said Mavec. “I am immensely proud of our work and believe Gini is the perfect person to carry this momentum forward and lead the CMA to new heights.” 

The CMA’s board of trustees is composed of local and national leaders in the arts, philanthropy, and civic life who provide strategic guidance and support to the museum in advancing its mission, vision, and promise.

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About the Cleveland Museum of Art 

The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 68,000 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovations. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation, recognized for its award-winning Open Access program and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in the University Circle neighborhood. 

The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.