PRESS RELEASE
Cafesjian Museum Foundation
3 Tamanian Street, Suite 31
Yerevan 0009, Armenia
USA Contact: Mr. John Waters
612-359-8991
[email protected]
Armenia Contact: Ms. Madlene Minassian
374 10 56-72-62
[email protected]
Minneapolis, MN/Yerevan, Armenia
August 15, 2007
The Cafesjian Museum Foundation Announces Michael De Marsche as New
Executive Director of the Gerard L. Cafesjian Center for the Arts and
Museum of Art
The Cafesjian Museum Foundation is pleased to announce that Michael De
Marsche has accepted the position of Executive Director of the Gerard L.
Cafesjian Center for the Arts and Museum of Art, currently under
construction in Yerevan, Armenia.
`I couldn’t be happier with the hiring of Mr. De Marsche,’ said Gerard L.
Cafesjian, businessman, philanthropist and museum founder. `He is an
experienced professional with the talent, skills, experience and
enthusiasm to lead this project to success.’
As President and CEO of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, De Marsche
established a new vision and led the campaign to fund and construct a new,
48,000 square-foot building that opened last week. During his four-year
tenure; annual attendance rose from 20,000 to over 120,000; membership
increased from 3,000 to over 10,000; and $1.2 million was raised to
construct FAC MODERN, an 8,000 square-foot gallery in downtown Colorado
Springs.
De Marsche previously served as the founding Director of the Jule Collins
Smith Museum of Art at Auburn University where he oversaw a $14 million
project culminating in the construction of a 40,000 square foot museum
building.
The Cafesjian Center for the Arts and Museum of Art `will be a monumental
achievement, not only for Armenia,’ De Marsche told the Colorado Springs
Gazette. `It will be one of the great museums of Eastern Europe.’
The Cafesjian Museum Foundation of Armenia was co-founded in April of 2002
by the Republic of Armenia and the Cafesjian Museum Foundation of America
for the purpose of developing a world class international museum of art
and a cultural center in Yerevan, Armenia.
For further information on the Cafesjian Museum Foundation call RA:
(37410) 56-72-62, USA (612) 359-8991; email [email protected]; or visit