SCOTT STOVER
I founded Scott Stover Inc. in 2005 because the arts need more than strategy.
As a cultural entrepreneur with a background in international investment banking, I know that continuity is crucial when it comes to translating strategy to action. Guiding a cultural organization through change or establishing a new initiative requires an integrated approach; one that encompasses short- and long-term financial planning, organizational development, competitive positioning, and – in select cases – executive leadership.
Over the past two decades, SSI has created and operated cultural enterprises and nonprofits, presented major exhibitions, formed international partnerships, and connected artists, institutions, and patrons across borders. I direct each engagement and assemble a team of legal, financial, curatorial, operational, and communications specialists suited to each project. As needed, I also assume executive leadership, taking responsibility for establishing and running the organization.
My role was described by Le Figaro Voyages as conseiller en “philanthropreneuriat” – indicating an approach informed by high-impact practices in philanthropy and entrepreneurship. Ultimately, however, our work extends beyond both fields. SSI’s clients are at the forefront of how art is commissioned, curated, experienced, and communicated; our structures of cultural support need to be equally innovative.
FINANCE AND THE ARTS
The financial knowledge and judgment I bring to cultural organizations was developed over the course of my career at Bank of America and Westdeutsche Landesbank. I financed projects in North and sub-Saharan Africa and specialized in special situations and distressed-debt investing in continental Europe for investors in the United States and internationally.
The arts have equally shaped my outlook. I received my A.B. and M.B.A. from Columbia University and pursued graduate studies in semiology and art history at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. Over time I became a collector, developing a sustained engagement with artists, museums, and the international art world;
speaking at major conferences, serving as a guest curator, and sharing my views on art, cultural institutions, and philanthropy in The Financial Times, The New York Times, and Le Figaro, among other publications. In 2013, I was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture for my contribution to French arts and culture.
FROM STRATEGY TO OPERATION
In 2005, I brought my financial and cultural experience together as Founding Executive Director of the US foundation supporting the Centre Pompidou. Over the following eight years, I opened the Foundation’s national office in Los Angeles and directed its strategy and operations. I developed its governance, board, membership, and donor network, working closely with the museum’s leadership and curators to connect American collectors and patrons with the Centre Pompidou’s collection and programs. I subsequently served on the Foundation’s board for two years.
The Centre Pompidou Foundation provided a model for later SSI engagements; a strategic framework that provided a continuity through to implementation. I went on to serve as Founding Executive Director of the Cahiers d’Art Institute and the Shulamit Nazarian Foundation, among other projects. Through SSI, I currently serve as Founding Executive Director of the Su Xiaobai Foundation; established during Su Xiaobai’s lifetime, the Foundation is part of a growing movement among artists to take an active role in shaping the stewardship of their work and legacy.
SSI is engaged in projects across the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. Our clients have included UNESCO, the Yuz Foundation and Yuz Museum, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, Réunion des Musées Nationaux–Grand Palais, AWARE, and Pearl Lam Galleries. These engagements have encompassed nonprofit formation, financial and operating models, governance, international expansion, private support for public museums, cross-border partnerships, and the development of artists’ foundations.