Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens announces new trustees

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens Board of Trustees announced the appointment of four new members: Sallie Ball, Susan DuBow, Ronald Rettner and Elaine Stallings. Ball, DuBow and Stallings will each serve a three-year term that began on October 1, 2021. Rettner will serve a two-year term as he fills a vacancy on the Board. His term began on December 2, 2021. 

“On behalf of the trustees, we are so pleased to welcome these four dynamic community leaders to our Board,” Pam D. Paul, Board of Trustees Chair, said. “We are very intentional about adding a diverse group of new trustees to ensure that our Board reflects our city. Their combined experience in business and nonprofit leadership adds tremendous depth to the governance of our Museum and guarantees it will continue to thrive well into the future.”

The Museum celebrates its 60th anniversary this year with a focus on its founder, Ninah Cummer’s philosophy that the organization should serve as “an art community for all.”

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens Board of Trustees has expanded now to 23 members, each providing a unique skill set while supporting a unified vision for the Museum as it looks forward to the next 60 years of serving Northeast Florida and beyond as a premier cultural resource.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a Board composed of such exceptional leaders, and our four new trustees all bring extraordinary new perspectives and voices to our work,” Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., the Museum’s George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and CEO, said. “The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens will benefit tremendously from their time, expertise and service.”

Meet the New Trustees

Sallie Ball is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. She served on the board of the Hearing and Speech Center of Florida for two years. She also served on the council for South Miami Hospital for Women and Children, which raised money for the Baptist Foundation. She is involved with the Battier Take Charge Foundation, a mentorship program based in Miami that serves its mission of sending underprivileged students to college.

Sallie has been involved on the board of her family’s foundation, and has served on its family council. She also participated in the Jacksonville Community Foundation’s Philanthropic Initiative. 

Susan DuBow was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She enjoyed a 17-year career in New York and Los Angeles as an entertainment publicist and partner in a leading public relations firm. In 2000, DuBow moved home to Jacksonville to raise her daughter with family and friends.

She quickly became involved in the community and created “Halloween Doors and More” for Community Hospice’s PedsCare program. Creating that event won her the 2006 “Eve Award for Volunteerism” and, in 2007, she also earned “12 Who Care” recognition.

She sits on the boards of the River Garden Hebrew Home for the Aged, North Florida School of Special Education, Baptist Health Foundation, the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund and the Furyk & Friends Golf Event.

Ronald Rettner is the President of the Rettner Building Management Corporation. He is currently an advisor to the Albanian American Civic League, a Senate Member on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and an Overseer at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Festival and the University of Rochester, among many others.

He was awarded the Balkan Peace Prize and the University of Rochester’s Dean’s Medal in 2015. He has also been awarded the Beitar Freedom Award and the Kosovo Medal of Freedom.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University, and an MBA and Master of Science degrees from Columbia University. He currently resides in Ponte Vedra, Fla. and Lenox, Mass.

Elaine Stallings began her career in rehab counseling and boasts a long career in human resources management. She has served on the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida since 2009, as well as the Jacksonville Library Guild, which assists in bringing authors to Jacksonville for the annual Much Ado About Books event. She is the founder of The Book Exchange, a 22-year-old book club, and is also a member at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church serving on the New Members Assimilation Team.

Stallings is currently a research/human resources liaison to her husband’s company, PS27 Ventures, as well as her son’s company Smartbox, a healthy snack and vending business. 

About the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

For more than 60 years, the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens has been committed to engaging and inspiring through the arts, gardens, and education. A permanent collection of more than 5,000 objects and historic gardens on a riverfront campus offers nearly 140,000 annual visitors a truly unique experience on the First Coast.

Nationally recognized education programs serve adults and children of all abilities, and is committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of the Museum. For further information, including hours, visit www.cummermuseum.org.