Art Collecting 101: Dr. Ena Heller Escaped Romania for a Career in Art

Ena Heller was born in Bucharest, Romania, from which she fled with her family to the United States at age 23. Her father was a historian. Her mother, a linguist, had a large art library. The only thing they were allowed to ship out was their library. That turned out to be an inspiration for Ena whose mother always took her to museums.

As she matured, her family expected her to be a historian like her father and grandfather. However, the library and museum visits fostered a passion for art history which led to a Master’s and Ph.D. from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, a thriving center of advanced research and graduate teaching in art history.

Just the beginning! Heller worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City before becoming the founding executive director of the Museum of  Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York .

As an innovator with a determination to expand the meaning of what the viewer sees on a museum wall, MOBIA strove to illuminate the religion behind the art. (As her parents wished, she became a teaching academic!) While at Mobia, Heller published research in two volumes on Jewish and Christian Women in the Bible. She also taught at the College of Holy Crossin Worcester, Ma and at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York.

Wait. Don’t assume Ena is solely an academic! Multifaceted, at the Rollins Museum of Art in Winter Park,  where she landed in 2012, Heller oversaw the acquisition of more than 1,300 works, mostly contemporary, to the museum’s collection, quadrupled the number of visitors, spearheaded the design of the new museum while doubling the operating budget and creating the first endowment for exhibitions.

Palm Beach is eagerly awaiting the skill set, determination and ability to innovate from this talented human for the Boca Museum which , as Ena says, “has a definite personality” and is “ a museum with a soul” according to the retiring director Irv Lippman.

This column is historically about collecting. Ena says that “she is probably the only museum director who doesn’t collect art.” The reason? The loss of almost everything as they fled Romania. The Boca community is known to consume a lot of “stuff.” Maybe we can make you feel safe Ena.

A museum director’s job is 24/7. Raising money, raising attendance, programming the museum, and increasing subscribers.

I asked how she balances her personal and professional life.

“It was a lot harder when my daughter ( now in her 20s) was young. But I absolutely love what I do. I am driven by passion. I am also blessed with a husband who participates in my professional life. He is the first one at every speech.”

The challenge at Boca? Ena feels that keeping the museum relevant and sustainable is the most consequential.

“There are a lot of changes happening in the museum world right now and we are all striving to make museums more open, inclusive and relevant to a larger part of society.”

Heller claims that young people today don’t want to visit a museum, look at what’s on the wall, and be told it’s important.A museum needs to be interactive; find ways for the viewer to participate. At Rollins she oversaw an exhibition curated by two to 6 year olds, which she says was “eye opening.” With a passion for opening our eyes, hearts and minds we look forward to her ability to move the museum ahead “ in a unique way.” Bravo, Dr. Ena Heller.