Architecture photographer and critic Lee Bey in as VP at DuSable Museum

Lee Bey, a former architecture critic with the Chicago Sun-Times, has been named the first-ever vice president of planning, education, and museum experience for the DuSable Museum of African American History in Washington Park. In recent years, Bey authored the Beyond the Boat Tour blog for WBEZ, worked alongside Theaster Gates at the University of Chicago, and hosted a radio show on Rivet Radio. In addition to writing and radio efforts, Bey has focused on architectural photography.

Bey also has experience working for and with the city, having previous acted as a deputy chief of staff to former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, as well as serving on various committees, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s site selection committee for George Lucas’s Museum of Narrative Art.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bey will will oversee key functions and departments at the museum, including its education department, and its collections staff and exhibitions. Bey joins the museum during a time of expansion and major changes—just last year the Chicago museum was granted Smithsonian Affiliation status.

Upcoming plans for the DuSable Museum include a new outdoor event space which will take over an underused 15,000-square-foot parking lot. And in addition to adding Bey to the roster, the organization recently saw local superstar Chance the Rapper join its board.

“It’s an honor to join this historic institution, particularly now with its re-energized leadership, focus and mission,” Bey tells the Hyde Park Herald. “The DuSable will accomplish great things in the years ahead.”

• Lee Bey named vice president of Chicago’s DuSable Museum [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Lee Bey named first-ever Vice President of DuSable Museum [Hyde Park Herald]
• New outdoor event space headed to Washington Park’s DuSable Museum [Curbed Chicago]