Sharon Ullman has been named Acting Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation following the announcement last week that Christy MacLear, who has led the Foundation staff since 2010, will be taking a position at Sotheby's. 

"Sharon was one of the first people Christy hired and she has served us brilliantly for more than six years, most recently as Chief Operating Officer," said Christopher Rauschenberg, chairman and president of the Foundation and the artist's son.  "Sharon knows every aspect of the organization and we are delighted to have Sharon's leadership, her depth of experience, and her strong commitment to my father's artistic legacy and philanthropic vision available to us during this transition period."

Rauschenberg extended his best wishes to MacLear and thanked her for her years of service.  

"Christy was instrumental in taking the Foundation from our early days as a 'foundation start-up' to the mature organization that the Foundation is today," Rauschenberg said. "There are three key elements of what we do – increasing access to Rauschenberg art and scholarship, operating a residency program for artists in Florida, and leading philanthropic initiatives that connect culture and creativity with education, climate change, and other important issues. Christy has helped us define and expand our work in all of these areas. We are appreciative of the magnificent work she has done and the solid foundation she has helped us lay."

The Foundation's Board has appointed a three-member committee to oversee the transition to new staff leadership, including the search for a successor to MacLear.

Michael Straus, former chairman of the board of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and a Rauschenberg board member since 2015, is chair of the transition committee. Christopher Rauschenberg and Elizabeth Glassman, president and CEO of the Terra Foundation for American Art and a Rauschenberg board member since 2013, also serve on the transition committee.