Alex Rich is in high gear.
New business cards are freshly inked with the title “President and CEO, Gibbes Museum of Art” below his name, H. Alexander Rich.
He’s also mastering the menus at Gibbes-proximate lunch spots like Basic Kitchen, where Charleston City Paper first connected with him.
At his new home just across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, he’s landed with his family — husband Greg, toddler son and schnauzer — who are settling into their own routines of remote work and daycare.
It’s been several months since late 2024 when Rich was first contacted about the role in national search. A specialist in modern and contemporary art history, he was then executive director and chief curator of the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art at Florida Southern College.
Fast-forward to 2025. Rich still boasts that new-car incredulity that comes with landing a dream job. It’s evidenced not only by own statements indicating as much but also by his twinkling, earnest eyes.
Drawn to the arts
It turns out that this palpable wonder started in his own wonder years.
“Not every kid loves museums more than playgrounds, but I did — and I felt that way for as long as I can recall,” he said.
His childhood home on Manhattan’s 82nd Street was a straight shot to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he was often taken by his grandfather.
From about age 2, Rich focused on cartooning, creating Sesame Street crayon-on-construction paper drawings. At school, he became known as the class artist. Aspirations of becoming a Disney animator prompted him to send an illustration of the Roger Rabbit character to the company. He then received a thank you letter signed by Roy E. Disney encouraging hard work to realize those dreams. He still has it.
While studying the Spanish Civil War as a teen, he gleaned insight from Picasso’s weeping women paintings. At 16, he landed a high school apprenticeship at the Met, which cemented his interest in becoming a museum director and led to a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College followed by a Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.
Drawn by the Gibbes
Unlike many newcomers, it was not the allure of sought-after locale that piqued Rich’s interest in the Gibbes. He had, in fact, never before visited the city. The draw was the caliber of the Gibbes.
“From the vantage point of someone engaged deeply with the museum world, I had also always admired the exhibitions and programs the Gibbes produced, even going so far as to point to the Gibbes as an example and show each mailing I received to my previous team, saying ‘I love what the Gibbes is doing! These are aspirational goals!’ ”
It’s also not lost on him that he’s filling some estimable shoes, with outgoing leader Angela Mack having logged 44 years at the Gibbes, with 17 in the top spot. Rich said he is deeply appreciative of this strong foundation, as he is Mack’s quick friendship, which has helped guide his own focus.
“The Gibbes’ role in the city, in the county, in the region, nationally and internationally, is always evolving, and my deepest hope and most driving motivation is that we grow our audiences and steer attention toward the amazing work, exhibitions, programs and collections that make the Gibbes so special,” he said.
The arts are more important today than ever, Rich said.
“In divisive times especially, art allows us to appreciate how others think and feel and the best art helps us not merely better to understand and communicate with one another but also how better to navigate the world and our relationships.”
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