Marcia Vilcek

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia (then Czechoslovakia), Ms. Vilcek earned advanced degrees in art history from the Comenius University in Bratislava and Charles University in Prague. Upon graduation, she began her professional career in a curatorial position at the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava. In 1965, Ms. Vilcek, with her husband, Jan Vilcek, immigrated to the United States. Upon arriving in New York, Ms. Vilcek accepted a position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, beginning what would be a 32-year tenure at the organization. As the Metropolitan Museum’s associate curator in charge of the Accessions and Catalogue Department, Ms. Vilcek dedicated the majority of her time with the museum to collections management and was responsible for processing and cataloguing the museum’s new acquisitions. Additionally, she authored the museum's procedural manuals on accessioning and cataloguing, and advised scores of curators, administrators, and students on collections management. Ms. Vilcek served as a consultant to nonprofit organizations including the Commission for Art Recovery of the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish Museum in New York City, and the Jordan National Gallery in Amman. She is a member of the board of directors of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts (of which she will become the chair in October 2015), the New York Youth Symphony, and the Foundation for a Civil Society. Additionally, Ms. Vilcek serves as an honorary trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2005, Ms. Vilcek joined her husband, a biomedical scientist, in giving the New York University School of Medicine one of the largest gifts in its history. In recognition of their generosity, the school has named several programs, chairs, and facilities in their honor. Ms. Vilcek has played an integral role in the conceptualization and administration of the Vlcek Foundation programs She has also utilized her extensive knowledge of art history and collections management in the development of the Jan T. and Marica Vilcek Collection, a promised gift to the Vilcek Foundation, which includes an unparalleled group of American Modernist works, as well as a significant assemblage of Pre-Columbian art and Native American pottery.