Minneapolis College of Art and Design names Gwendolyn Freed its 20th president

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design has hired higher education leader, professor and musician Gwendolyn Freed as its 20th president of the college following a national search.

Freed, currently the interim chief development officer at Brooklyn Park-based Second Harvest Heartland, will lead the 800-student private nonprofit art college in Minneapolis known for drawing students from across the nation and internationally. She starts June 1.

Freed’s key goal is to ensure that MCAD continues to be a thriving and sustainable enterprise with transformational curricula that fosters a culture of inclusion and well-being for students, staff and faculty, MCAD spokeswoman Annie Gillette Cleveland said.

“As someone who’s been in the Twin Cities for a long time, I knew and loved the college, and I resonate super strongly with their mission to provide a transformative education within a community of support for creative students of all backgrounds,” Freed said. “I’ve been certain from the outset that MCAD is really a place where you can take creative risks and always be supported.”

MCAD’s board unanimously voted to hire Freed.

“She’s really a highly regarded leader with deep roots in the Twin Cities, not only in higher education, but the arts community and the nonprofit community,” MCAD Board Co-Chair Chris Barry said. “She’s a steady, seasoned leader, and she’s very gracious in person, really empowering. She’s an amazing listener.”

Freed and her family have been in the Twin Cities since the late 1990s. She teaches at the University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing and Professional Studies and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and holds a doctorate in educational policy and administration and a master of public affairs, public and nonprofit leadership and management from the U.

In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, she covered business and arts and culture for the Minnesota Star Tribune. She also is an accomplished musician with degrees from the Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She plays the oboe and the English horn but isn’t actively performing.

Freed described her managerial style as “very collaborative and consultative,” noting that she takes data into account while also believing in the “power of organizational learning together.

“I’m sensitive to coming into an institution where many people have served for a long time and given so much of their careers,” she said. “I really respect that.”

Freed will be the second female president in the college’s 139-year history. Karen Wirth more recently served as interim president.

Freed’s hiring comes less than six months after the fallout with previous MCAD President Sanjit Sethi, who came to Minneapolis from George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design shortly before the pandemic. He was asked to step down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, shortly after his sixth year at the college.

There was much excitement around Sethi’s hiring, particularly about his interest in making the campus more diverse during a time of record enrollment, and his interest in examining systems and practices of racial, cultural and gender stereotypes.

But over time, professors, alumni and longtime staff grew frustrated with Sethi, pointing to his lack of trust in the staff and faculty who have been at the college for many years, resulting in decisions some called “convoluted.”

Sethi led the college through the pandemic, a challenging time for every higher education institution.