Skye Skinner named executive director of the Art Base

The Art Base announced in late November that Skye Skinner had accepted a position as the Basalt-based nonprofit’s permanent executive director.

Skinner has been consulting in the areas of fundraising and strategy with the Art Base since 2018, and has been its interim executive director since March 2020.

“It’s been quite the journey these past months, navigating both the pandemic and a leadership change, but thanks to generous support and program participation the Art Base is thriving,” Skinner said in the announcement. “I am honored to join the team, with a focus on ensuring the long-term sustainability of this important community asset.”

The announcement comes as the Art Base moves forward with its purchase of the Three Bears Building in Old Town Basalt, where the organization will move from its current home in Lions Park. The deal secures a permanent home for the nearly 25-year-old arts nonprofit, realizing a long-held goal.

“Skye is the right leader at the right time for the Art Base,” Art Base board president John Black said in the announcement. “She is well respected in the Roaring Fork Valley for her work in the nonprofit sector, and we’re fortunate to have her join us during this exciting chapter.”

Skinner’s roots with the Art Base go back to its formation as the Wyly Community Art Center in 1996, when she worked with founding director Deb Jones.

Skinner was born and raised on a homestead in Alaska. She moved to Aspen in 1978 to live with her mother, longtime Aspen Times columnist Su Lum. A graduate of Aspen High School, Skinner spent 22 years in leadership at Compass (the nonprofit that operates the Aspen and Carbondale Community Schools), the past 12 years as executive director.

Her resume at Compass includes leading an $11 million fundraising campaign to rebuild the Woody Creek school campus. In 2017, Skinner resigned from Compass to work as a strategic consultant for nonprofits.