JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019
The Four Arts Welcomes New Campus Director
S
ofia Vollmer Maduro feels right at home as The Society of the Four Arts’ new Director of Education, given her strong family ties to Palm Beach. “My grandparents moved here in the ’40s, my parents were married here, and my aunt was the first woman on the Town Council,” Vollmer Maduro said. “I went to middle school here and came to the Four Arts all the time. When my husband and I moved to Palm Beach in 2012, I made a beeline to the Four Arts and signed up for events.” The Campus on the Lake also selected Vollmer Maduro, an internationally recognized art and photography expert and a lecturer with extensive experience in cultural and educational non-profit management, to become a Four Arts presenter. Over the past few seasons, she has led field trips to Art Basel, taught workshops on the appreciation of photographic art, and instructed classes on organizing genealogical and photo archives. She will host a Director Series this season. “There’s a wealth of workshops and lectures offered, and that variety really appeals to me,” Vollmer Maduro said. “I am very curious, I am interested in current events, history, music, different art forms, and I enjoy interacting with people.” Her popularity as a presenter, combined with her knowledge of Palm Beach – an alumna of Palm Beach Day Academy, she also served as the school’s programs director from 2012-2018 – and her advocacy of lifelong learning made Vollmer Maduro the perfect choice to
Director Series: The World of Photography with Sofia Vollmer Maduro Classes 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. February 22, March 1 and 8. Field trip 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 22. $225 for series. Reservations required, call (561) 805-8562, visit the box office, or go to www.fourarts.org.
replace Molly Charland, who retired in September after 22 years with the Four Arts. “It’s all about enrichment and continuing one’s education,” Vollmer Maduro said. “We should never stop learning, but learning needs to be fun. That’s what Campus on the Lake embodies. You will never be bored here!” Vollmer Maduro brings plenty of international connections to her new role. She serves on the curatorial committee of the PhotoLondon Art Fair, was a trustee at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, N.Y., acted as an advisor to the Sorbonne for five years while living in Paris, and was the chairperson of the chamber music association of Venezuela for 16 years. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from the University of Cambridge, England. “Palm Beach has always had a very international dimension, and people are interested in universal issues, but it is still a town where people have roots and are community-oriented,” Vollmer Maduro said. “Campus on the Lake understands that our programs can help enrich the community and be attractive to anyone used to high cultural and artistic quality. We strive to strike a rich balance between the arts and the world in which we live, the art of living well and the art of living responsibly.” 1