Chris Marblo, the Garrison Institute’s New Executive Director

We’re delighted to announce that Chris Marblo is the Garrison Institute’s new Executive Director, effective November 2, 2015. He’s led diverse arts and educational organizations and spent over 30 years as a teacher and administrator with a longstanding interest in creative thinking and curricular innovation.

Prior to joining the Institute, Chris was president of the Arts Center in Troy, New York, an organization serving over 40,000 people a year with classes, exhibits, and programs in the arts and creativity. During his tenure, the Center added new programs, including a series on creative thinking, and markedly boosted class revenue and individual giving.

As Head of The Town School in New York City, he launched a new creative thinking program and “innovation lab,” and led an endowment campaign that raised $9.3 million. He also served as Head of The Kent School in Maryland, Head of Middle School at both the Haverford School in suburban Philadelphia and The Albany Academy, in Albany, New York, and was a Klingenstein Visiting Fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2003.

“The board unanimously chose Chris as the right leader for our new, transformative decade,” said Garrison Institute board chair and founding president emeritus Diana Calthorpe Rose. “He’s a highly regarded executive with calm, insightful leadership skills and an impressive track record leading successful institutions. Those qualities, along with his lifelong interest in creativity, contemplation and spirituality, make him a wonderful fit for us.”

Chris has a self-designed degree in Literature and Human Thought from the College of St. Rose in Albany and a master’s degree in Humanities from New York University. He studied religion as part of both degrees, visiting monasteries in the US, France, Japan, and China. He describes contemplative and spirituality as “core passions,” and has a particular appreciation for the work of Thomas Merton and Richard Rohr. Chris also composes and releases ambient electronic music, which, he says, “in a real way, is part of my contemplative practice.”