Cleveland Museum of Art board names Ellen Stirn Mavec as its new chair, succeeding Scott Mueller

Cleveland Museum of Art trustees elect Ellen Mavec as their new chair, succeeding Scott Mueller

Ellen Mavec, a longtime Cleveland Museum of Art trustee, has been elected chair of the board.Howard Agresti, courtesy Cleveland Museum of Art

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Museum of Art’s 38-member board of trustees on Monday elected Ellen Stirn Mavec, president of the Kelvin & Eleanor Smith Foundation, as the museum’s new board chair for a three-year term.

An influential philanthropist and former dealer in decorative arts, antiques, and jewelry, and a trustee who has served on the museum’s board since 1991, Mavec succeeds Scott Mueller, CEO of Dealer Tire and also one of the museum’s leading current benefactors.

Mavec will lead the board after an eventful two decades in which the museum conceived and carried out a $320 million expansion and renovation completed in 2013 that added new galleries and a central atrium that functions as a civic living room for Cleveland.

“I’m just humbled and overwhelmed, and just delighted to be able to work with Bill [museum President and Director William Griswold] and our incredible group of trustees, who are exceedingly dedicated,’’ Mavec said in an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

Griswold said that Mavec is the longest-serving member of the museum’s board and “someone who has exhibited over many years an amazing commitment to the museum and has served on many board committees. I’m really excited about working with her.”

Griswold expressed gratitude for Mueller’s service as board chair.

“I can’t say enough good things about Scott,’’ he said. “Scott had no way of knowing when he accepted this job that he would see us through a pandemic. His passion, humor, and steadiness were incredibly helpful.”

Griswold went on to say, “we’ve been blessed with a succession of really great board chairs; this is a seamless transition.”

Mueller was quoted in a museum news release as saying: “We have accomplished a great deal in the last three years, despite the challenges [of the pandemic]. I am proud of the work we have done and believe that Ellen is the ideal choice. Her dedication to the museum, extensive experience on the board, and knowledge of art history give her unique talent to lead the next chapter of the CMA.”

A native of Cleveland, the former Ellen Stirn earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Northwestern University in 1980, and studied decorative arts at Sotheby’s in London in 1983-84, before opening the Ellen Stirn Galleries in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square district in 1984, specializing in 18th- and 19th-century European decorative arts.

In 1985, Stirn married Bruce Mavec, now a retired real estate development and management executive, and current mayor of the Village of Hunting Valley.

In 1988, Ellen Mavec bought Potter + Mellen, a Cleveland-based retail company specializing in the design and production of fine metalware and jewelry. She was president and owner of the company until 2008.

Mavec has served on the Smith foundation’s board since 1982 and became its president and chair in 1997. The foundation was established by Mavec’s grandfather, Kelvin Smith, a co-founder of Lubrizol.

The foundation has donated more than $100 million to University Circle institutions, including $22.5 million to the Cleveland Museum of Art to help pay for the $320 million expansion and renovation. The donation was the single biggest gift to the capital campaign for the project.

Mavec has chaired the museum’s Collections Committee and Nominating Committee, and the Transformation Capital Campaign. She also served on its Development, Architect Selection, Campaign Planning, Campus Planning, Building Oversight, and Director Search Committees.

Reflecting on her election as chair of the museum’s board, Mavec referred to Robert P. Bergman, who led the museum from 1993 until his death in 1999 from a sudden illness, as a major influence on her thinking.

“Really, since I’ve been a trustee, since 1991, everything in the museum has been transformed — our physical space, the galleries, the displays, the technology, the collecting areas. I’ve seen a lot of change. It all began with Bob [Bergman], and Bill [Griswold] has been a terrific director. and I’m excited to keep things going.’’

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