Arts center's new director has long ties to area and arts
By JOYCE VANAMAN For The Press
Published: Wednesday, November 29, 2006
MILLVILLE — Carolyne and Mark Krull were no strangers to southern New Jersey when they moved here three years ago from Philadelphia.
“My parents had a house in Fortescue and I would spend summers there,” said Carolyne Krull, executive director of the Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, or RRCA.
“The beauty of the marshes had a strong draw for me,” Krull said.
A sister formerly lived in Millville, and Krull also had friends in Leesburg, so she watched with interest the development of the arts center and the arts district and liked what was taking place.
“Mark and I were excited about the revitalization and found the people very friendly,” Krull said. “We had been trying to find a small town, but not many have an arts district like Millville. We bought a home in the arts district and I can now walk to work.”
Mark, however, still commutes to Philadelphia to his job as a career development counselor with the Department of Welfare in Pennsylvania.
A year-and-a-half ago, Carolyne became a member of the RRCA board of directors. When Michael Cagno left in August to become the executive director of the Noyes Museum of Art in Galloway Township, Atlantic County, the board named Krull to succeed him.
“I benefited from Mike's accomplishments here,” Krull said. “He left the RRCA well prepared for someone else to step into the job.”
“Carolyne has a fabulous background,” said Libby Rothfarb, chairwoman of the RRCA board. “We are blessed because she not only has the credentials we were looking for, but she had already moved to Millville because of her interest in the arts. Carolyne also has very good writing and interpersonal skills.”
Krull, 50, who grew up in Newtown Square, Pa., said: “I had a great art teacher in junior high school who introduced me to portrait painting. I was also interested in dance and the guitar.
Since high school, I have been involved in yoga, which I have taught in Philadelphia and at Cumberland County College.”
Krull studied dance at Temple University, has a degree in communications and English from St. Joseph's University, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and has done advanced work at St. Joseph's.
Her previous jobs — a paralegal in Philadelphia, interior design and home furnishings at John Wanamaker's, assistant to the museum director at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts — reflect her diverse interests.
“From1990 to 1995, I was coordinator of the Barnes Foundation Gallery where I was in charge of getting paintings and artifacts into storage while the building was being renovated,” Krull said. “There were 22 rooms, with at least 50 objects in each of the rooms.”
Krull's next jobs were as associate director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and then as program manager at Comey Institute of Labor Relations at St. Joseph's University.
Enthusiastic about her work at RRCA, Krull said: “I've been very fortunate to work with a committed, hands-on board of directors. The working relationship of the RRCA with the city and county are overwhelmingly positive.”
“I've also enjoyed getting to know and establishing relationships with the artists and the community,” Krull said.
“The RRCA has very strong children's classes on site and off site taught by area artists,” Krull said. “We're also building up our adult classes and have started life drawing sessions with models.
“Students from the ACE (Art Creates Excellence) program took the first class and were in awe of being in the same room with artists whose works have been on the walls of the gallery,” Krull said.
Morel “Mo” Pagano will teach a portrait class for teenagers and adults beginning on Saturday,” and there are other new programs that will get under way soon, Krull said.
“It takes a group of people who are committed to building the arts to be a key force in the growth of the Millville area — the board, the city and the artists,” Krull said.
Krull said she has formed a new exhibition committee composed of artists Liz Nicklus, Robert Corson and Michelle Post, all of Millville, and Rachel Citrino, of Greenwich Township.
“We're looking at keeping the exhibitions of local and regional artists while also bringing in more artists from outside the region,” Krull said.
Krull is enthusiastic about a new mural project funded by the Dodge Foundation in which students from Wood School, Silver Run School and Millville Memorial High School will create murals in three areas of center city.
“I believe in community building through the arts,” Krull said.
She and her husband have been involved with the Center City Neighborhood Group, and Krull has been a volunteer with the First United Methodist Church's SHINE outreach programs in center city.
Krull, who studied landscape painting this summer at the Burcham Farm with Pat Witt, Millville's artist laureate, will have her own work included in a future exhibit of Witt's students. “I loved the classes,” Krull said. “Pat has boundless energy and enthusiasm for her students and the arts.”
Through her participation in Cumberland County College's Leadership Cumberland County program, Krull said she has gotten an in-depth look at what the county offers in many diverse areas and become acquainted with the people involved.
Krull has a daughter who is a social worker for South Jersey Healthcare and lives in Fairfield Township.
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