Oklahoma City Council honors OKC Museum of Art’s late president and CEO Carolyn Hill
Carolyn Hill (Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman Archives)
The Oklahoma City Council voted Tuesday to honor longtime art enthusiast Carolyn Hill by deeming part of the Civic Center’s park property “Carolyn Hill Park.” The park is at the intersection of Couch Drive and North Hudson Avenue, near the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, where Hill served as the president and CEO from 1994 to 2008.
The museum board of trustees and staff facilitated the park name change with the Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department to honor Hill for her work moving the museum downtown, according to a news release. The resolution to name the park was unanimously approved by the City Council.
“We are pleased to be a part of honoring Carolyn Hill,” said Frank Merrick, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees, in the release. “Her passion for the arts and strong leadership grew the museum into what it is today – a very important cultural component of our growing city.”
Hill retired as executive director of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in December 2008. Upon stepping down, she wrote, “I have been more than fortunate to have worked with a dedicated board and staff to advance the Museum’s development. It has been serendipity that these years have coincided with the City’s renaissance. I have every confidence that the Museum’s best days lie ahead.”
Revered by her staff, patrons and friends, Hill was the recipient of the By-liners Award for Arts in 1997, the Governor’s Arts Award in 2001 and the Stanley Draper Award for Community Excellence in 2003, and was inducted in The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Wall of Fame in 2008.
Hill died in 2010 at the age of 72.
An official dedication will be announced after Project 180 is complete.
-BAM
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Please advise when the official dedication will take place. As Carolyn’s cousin and one of her few remaining heirs, I am very much interested in attending the dedication on behalf of the family. Carolyn was dearly loved by our family and we miss her very much.
Thank you!