2024 Year in Review: Newfields finds new CEO in Field Museum executive

For the second time in three years, Newfields hired a new leader to close a contentious chapter in the history of the art museum and gardens.

Le Monte Booker, chief financial officer of Chicago’s Field Museum, was announced in August as successor to Colette Pierce Burnette in the role of Newfields CEO and president.

Burnette’s tenure at Newfields, a 152-acre campus that includes the Indianapolis Museum of Art, began in August 2022 and ended in November 2023 with her abrupt and unexplained departure.

She was hired in the wake of a race-related controversy that led to the resignation of CEO Charles Venable in 2021. Venable departed after more than 85 Newfields employees and affiliates signed a letter calling for his ousting in response to a job posting that referenced the need to maintain “the museum’s traditional, core, white art audience” while attempting to attract guests from
all backgrounds.

Burnette became the first Black top executive and the first woman hired for the role at the institution founded in 1883.

Newfields provided no explanation for Burnette’s exit, citing a policy of not discussing the details of internal employment matters.

Six board members stepped down in the weeks before and after the announcement of Burnette’s exit.

Martin University President Sean Huddleston was one of six Newfields board of trustees members who resigned. A Martin spokesperson told IBJ in December 2023 that Huddleston left the Newfields board in response to Burnette’s departure.

“Given the current climate, her departure represents an unfortunate setback to the progress our community has made,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

Burnette joined the Martin University board in January.

Booker, an alum of Chicago’s DePaul University who earned an MBA degree from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management, was scheduled to begin his tenure at Newfields in late October.•

Check out more year-in-review stories from 2024.