After 40 Years Norman Rockwell Museum Director Laurie Norton Moffatt to Retire
Norton Moffatt is credited for dramatically growing the profile of the museum and Rockwell's national status.
Laurie Norton Moffatt, longtime director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, will step down in 2026 following the appointment of her successor. Her retirement will mark the end of a 40-year tenure that saw the museum evolve from a small local institution into a prominent center for American illustration art.
Norton Moffatt first joined the museum as a part-time summer docent while in college and became curator in 1981. She was appointed director in 1986 at age 29. During her early years, she completed the first catalogue raisonné of Norman Rockwell’s more than 4,000 works—an effort that laid the foundation for future scholarship and helped shape her direction as an advocate for the artist and his field.
Her work as director included overseeing the construction of a new $9.4 million museum building, which opened in 1993, and guiding the expansion of the institution’s holdings. Today, the collection includes 830 original Rockwells and over 25,000 works of illustration art. The museum has also developed more than 150 traveling exhibitions and, in 2008–2010, launched the nation’s first scholarly center for illustration art.
NRM Archive Photo: 1986, Board President Lila Berle and Director Laurie Norton Moffatt escort the move of Norman Rockwell's art studio from the backyard of his former home to its new location on the Linwood Estate where the museum was later built.
“It would be difficult to overstate Laurie Norton Moffatt’s profound contributions to Norman Rockwell Museum’s growth and evolution, as well as to public, academic, and art-world appreciation for Norman Rockwell and the field of illustration,” says Dolf Berle, chair of the museum’s board of trustees. “She has worked in partnership with many board leaders and trustees over the years, opening and advancing new chapters in the appreciation of Norman Rockwell and deepening the Museum’s influence in our community and society. We are proud of her work in the field.”
Throughout her career, Norton Moffatt worked to place Rockwell in a broader cultural and artistic context. As a result Rockwell has increasingly been recognized as a significant figure in 20th-century American art. Norton Moffatt also expanded the museum’s focus to include the wider field of illustration art, both historical and contemporary.
For example, on June 7, the museum will display the whimsical work of Walter Wick, the acclaimed photographer and creator of the I Spy book series. With a career spanning over 50 years, Wick’s work combines artistry, technical innovation, and mind-bending visual puzzles.
“Laurie Norton Moffatt’s lifelong dedication to the art of Norman Rockwell has taken the museum on an amazing journey from a little wooden house in the middle of our village to its current incarnation as an internationally renowned and respected home for the artist’s work and his beloved field of illustration art,” said Daisy Rockwell, an artist, literary translator, trustee of the museum and Rockwell’s granddaughter. “As a member of the artist’s family, I am deeply grateful for Laurie’s many years of dedicated stewardship of his artwork and archive and her commitment to creating an environment that consistently welcomes new audiences and fresh approaches to the work.”
During her tenure, the museum emphasized programmatic themes of civic values, optimism, and social justice present in Rockwell’s most well-known works, such as The Four Freedoms, The Golden Rule, and The Problem We All Live With.
In addition to her work at the museum, Norton Moffatt has been active in national and regional arts leadership. She has served on the boards of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the Association of Art Museum Directors, and the New England Museum Association, among others. She also co-founded the Berkshire Creative Economy Council and currently serves as an Accreditation Commissioner for the AAM.
A formal search committee has been established by the Board of Trustees to identify the museum’s next director. Norton Moffatt will continue to serve until the role is filled and will assist in the leadership transition.
