Creative Pinellas names Margaret Murray its new CEO

Margaret Murray has been named Creative Pinellas’ new Chief Executive Officer.

Best known as the innovative director of public programs and community engagement at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg from 2015 to 2023, Murray succeeds Barbara St. Clair, who retired at the end of the year.

The nonprofit Creative Pinellas is the county-wide arts support organization.

One of Murray’s first tasks will be to help instigate the Arts Coast Cultural Plan, the first comprehensive study of the Pinellas County cultural landscape in 18 years. The plan was funded by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, with the goal of helping provide the data needed to strategically plan for continued growth of the arts.

Murray became Creative Pinellas’ “cultural plan liaison” last spring, and will officially transition into the CEO role Jan. 22.

“I am incredibly excited at the opportunity ahead,” Murray told the Catalyst. “Not just for myself, but for the artists and arts organizations in Pinellas County. As well as the team here, which has been in place for a few years. They’re very dedicated.”

The coming year, she added, will be all about the cultural plan. “It’s full steam ahead, and that is going to provide everyone in the county kind of a blueprint for how we support the arts in future years.”