Howard Taylor

Howard Taylor
President Emeritus

Howard

Howard Taylor has 42 years experience in museum administration and has been with the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts for more than 30 years as its first director.

He has previously served as Chief of Interpretation at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and prior to coming to Texas, was the Assistant Director of the Philadelphia Maritime Museum for 13 years. He is former President of the Museum Council of Philadelphia, Co-Chairman of the 1982 American Association of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting, and has served as the President of the National Association of Museum Exhibition, the largest standing professional committee of the AAM. He has served three times as Chairman of the Texas Commission on the Arts Visual Arts Panel and has been a juror, consultant and featured speaker for more than one hundred museums and arts venues throughout the country. He is a past President of the Texas Association of Museums (TAM). He served as a member of the Board of Director’s of the American Association of Museums.

Howard Taylor received a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design (Ohio). He studied American Civilization and Historical Archeology at the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of a museum management program offered by the Museums Collaborative of New York and the Columbia University Business School. He completed a cultural arts management program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is the only museum to have received the American Institute of Architects National Service Award. The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts received the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Museum Service Award in a ceremony at the White House in 2003. Howard received the Texas Association of Museum’s President’s Award in 2004 and the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award in 2005. On April 1, 2011 Howard accepted the John L. Nau III award for Excellence in Museums from the Texas Historical Commission.

In January 2023, Howard Taylor stepped down from his role as President and CEO and took on an advisory role as Development Director and President Emeritus to help the transition to new leadership. As of August 1, 2023, Mr. Taylor has officially retired after 38 years.