Lisa Baylis Gonzalez

As Art Exhibitions Director, Ms. Gonzalez oversees the university’s Elaine L. Jacob Gallery and Community Arts Gallery.  Gonzalez came to Wayne State University with over 20 years of experience in arts and culture organizations, including at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (M. H. de Young Museum and California Palace of the Legion of Honor), The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Flint Institute of Arts.  She did her undergraduate work in the history of art at the University of Michigan, graduate work in the history of art at the University of Southern California and received her MBA degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.  Gonzalez also serves as a peer reviewer for the American Association of Museums, the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and has done a variety of management and program consultancies for arts organizations nationwide.  She is an active member of the Contemporary Arts Council of Detroit, the Community Connections Committee of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan.

Wayne State University’s art galleries are key venues for presenting visual arts exhibitions and related programs in metropolitan Detroit. They contribute to the vitality of downtown and support local and regional artists in a significant way. In acknowledgement of the role played by Wayne State's Elaine L. Jacob Gallery and Community Arts Gallery, the galleries recently received a Detroit Program, Arts and Culture General Support Grant from the Kresge Foundation to support the planning, development and implementation of exhibitions and related programs.