Neon Museum names new executive director
The Neon Museum has a new executive director.
Aaron Berger, a former executive director at The Breman Museum in Atlanta, is taking over the position from interim director Bruce Spotleson, the museum announced Wednesday. Spotleson will remain with the museum as deputy director.
Berger, who recently relocated to Las Vegas from Atlanta, brings “extensive experience in museum leadership, nonprofit fundraising, and community engagement,” a press release from the Neon Museum states. During his five years as executive director at The Breman Museum, Berger raised annual attendance by 32 percent.
“Aaron’s experience with nonprofit fundraising and successful track record of leading museums, including raising their profiles through developing exhibits and community partnerships, will be a valuable asset to The Neon Museum,” said Uri Vaknin, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees. “He joins the museum during a critical but exciting time, as it continues to evolve its guest experience and move forward with an expansion into the Reed Whipple Cultural Center that will double the size of the museum’s campus.”
The Neon Museum’s new chief has a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from the College of Charleston, South Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from South University in Savannah, Georgia.
Berger began his career as the curator for the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art. He later went on to become director of the museum. After his stint at the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Berger became director at the Albany Museum of Art, making him one of the youngest in the country to lead a nationally accredited museum. Most recently, Berger was managing partner at ABC, a consulting agency in Atlanta.
Berger said he is looking forward to his new chapter in Las Vegas after decades in the American South.
“The Neon Museum is unrivaled not only because it’s home to an amazing repository of iconic neon signs, but because it exemplifies a great convergence of art and history,” Berger said. “There is no other place where you can gain the perspective that The Neon Museum offers on the unique stories behind the signs and how they fit into Vegas history and the broader community.”
Contact Dylan Svoboda at dsvoboda@reviewjournal.com. Follow @dylanksvoboda on Twitter.
