Biography
Ms. Ellen Owens is the Director of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, providing strategy and vision, while leading fundraising and collaboration efforts. Owens was formerly Director of Learning Programs at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) where she sat on the Executive Team and led three major departments. She also served as Director of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, a vibrant museum and art gallery.
Owens currently teaches Museum Studies at Niagara University; she was a professor in the University of the Arts Museum Studies graduate program for ten years. She sits on the Executive Committees for The Print Center and Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania; she also held long-term appointments with the Arts & Business Council and Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia.
Owens graduated with honors from Penn State University, earning a B.A. in Art Education and a B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing. She received her M.A. in Museum Education from the University of the Arts; Executive Leadership certificates from the Getty Leadership Institute, University of Pennsylvania, and Bryn Mawr College.