Vilcek Foundation

Rick Alan Kinsel

Executive Director, The Vilcek Foundation

Rick Kinsel has worked to conceptualize and administer the philanthropic programs of The Vilcek Foundation since the philanthropy's founding in 2000, first as a member of the Board of Directors and since 2003 as the executive director.

Mr. Kinsel brings to the Foundation experience in both the corporate and non-profit sectors.  For Coty Inc. in New York he served as director of cultural affairs, directing all cultural and educational programs for the corporation and its global subsidiaries from 1997 to 2003.

Kinsel's first task upon joining Coty was to build new corporate art collections for the company's offices in New York, Paris, London and Moscow. He then went on to oversee a number of other key cultural initiatives, such as the creation of an annual design award; the raising of scholarship dollars to support students at Parsons School of Design in New York; and the forming of an innovative alliance with the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) whereby Coty developed personal care products suited to counter the dry atmosphere of the International Space Station.

Before and during his tenure at Coty, Mr. Kinsel provided marketing and management counsel to such organizations as the Greentree Foundation (Mrs. John Hay Whitney Estate) and the Puerta Vallarta Arts Festival in Mexico. Mr. Kinsel has also advised the New York State Attorney General's Office on various issues related to confiscated art objects.

Rick Kinsel began his career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1989.  There, as cataloguer in charge of acquisitions, he was responsible for the accessioning of all objects acquired by the museum (more than four thousand objects per year).

During his tenure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he earned an M.A. in the History of the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture from The Bard Graduate Center in New York.  He completed undergraduate studies at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio, and The Ohio State University in Columbus.  Mr. Kinsel also pursued non-degree coursework in museum studies at the L'Ecole du Louvre in Paris.

Mr. Kinsel has served on the board of directors of Sheeba Records, Toronto, and The International Perfume Bottle Association. As a specialist in the decorative arts, he is a member of the International Association of Professional Art Advisors (IAPAA).