Scott Stulen

Background

About Scott Stulen

Scott Stulen is the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO of the Seattle Art Museum, where he leads with a bold vision for making museums more connected, inclusive, and fun. A nationally recognized museum leader, he previously served as President and CEO of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he transformed the institution into a welcoming, family-friendly destination. Under his leadership, Philbrook experienced exponential growth in attendance and support, launched its first campus expansion in more than three decades with a $10M gift, created a $16.5M contemporary art acquisition fund to diversify the collection, and reimagined programming to center interactivity, outdoor experiences, and multi-generational engagement. Before Tulsa, Scott was the inaugural Curator of Audience Experiences and Performance at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Director of mnartists.org at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, pioneering approaches that connected art with everyday life and new audiences. Beyond the museum, Scott is also a practicing visual artist, programmer, and DJ. He holds an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Minnesota and a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He now calls Seattle home, where he lives with his wife, Rachel, and their two sons, Erlend and Oliver.