The Green Bay City Council held off on formally asking Brown County to hire a new Neville Public Museum director amid sprawling, unsettled discussions about the museum’s future.
The council on May 5 tabled a resolution that urged the county to fill the director position vacant since Beth Kowalski resigned in September 2025. The resolution cited the Neville’s vital role in preserving and sharing Brown County’s history, art and culture with the community and the impact the absence of a director had on strategic planning.
Council members proposed the resolution amid ongoing discussions around changing the museum’s future programming, which sparked public concerns those changes would compromise the Neville’s core mission to the community. They chose to hold off after having discussions with county officials and a Brown County supervisor provided some basic reassurances about the museum’s near-term future.
Hours before the council cast its vote, a Brown County supervisor added another layer to discussion by submitting a resolution requesting the county study selling the Neville museum to the city, its original operator from 1927 to 1981.
While nothing is resolved, city and county elected officials have pledged that the path forward will be a collaborative one. Here’s how we got here, what we know and why this matters.
Public sees Neville as a community treasure with a vital mission
The five members of the public who spoke about the resolution called the Neville a gem of a community institution that needs long-term support. The 99-year-old museum currently preserves a collection of more than 1 million artifacts from the community’s history, items that cannot be replaced or restored.
“The overall future of the museum is important to talk about,” said Green Bay resident Mary Pappas. She later added that the museum “needs our collective attention” and “deserves it.”
Dave Coury, of the Green Bay Film Society, said he hopes the current talks turn the Neville into the cultural and intellectual heart of downtown Green Bay, akin to the Mulva Cultural Center in De Pere or the Milwaukee Art Museum.
“They’re destination spots for people interested in the arts and culture,” Coury said. “[The Neville] has the potential to do more than it does.”
Request to consider children’s museum programming followed director’s resignation
The current focus on the Neville traces back to several events in fall 2025.
Kowalski on Sept. 15, 2025, resigned after 12 years as director of the museum. Weeks later, two Brown County supervisors requested county staff look into moving the museum to a children’s museum-style model that would add interactive exhibits to increase attendance.
The request to look at children’s museum programming in recent months led to speculation the Neville and Children’s Museum of Green Bay could collaborate to achieve such an end, but at the time, an idea Children’s Museum Executive Director Toni Burnett pushed back on at the time.
Brown County Board supervisor lays out key pledges regarding Neville’s future
Brown County Supervisor Patrick Evans who days ago had asked the council to drop its resolution, on May 5 said city and county officials have since had great discussions about the museum’s future and its importance. He said the path forward will involve ongoing collaboration.
He also sought to dispel several rumors about the museum’s future that have circulated on social media and in the community, complicating the city and county’s efforts to understand the intent behind the resolution and discussions. Evans said the Neville:
“These are all important things” to clarify, Evans said.
Children’s Museum director doesn’t close door on collaboration with Neville
Burnett, though, now won’t rule out a collaboration with the Neville and in a May 5 statement to the Press-Gazette confirmed the museum and county are in active discussion about it.
“We are in early conversations. Brown County has two strong institutions in the Neville Public Museum and the Children’s Museum, and we’re exploring what might be possible in the future,” Burnett said. “The Neville plays an important role in preserving our region’s history, and that’s something we deeply respect. At the same time, the Children’s Museum has spent years building something families love and depend on, and I remain focused on continuing that momentum through hands-on interactive learning. Right now, this is about thoughtful discussion around what best serves the community.”
Supervisor wants Brown County to study selling Neville to city
While much of the discussion has focused on the short term, a county supervisor wants to put all options and possibilities on the table.
The county’s Education & Recreation Committee on May 6 will consider a resolution to establish a framework to sell the Neville back to the city. Supervisor Sam Dunlop in a Facebook post said the resolution recognizes the museum’s strategic direction is under evaluation, the city’s interest in the Neville and would establish a framework for potential negotiations with the city.
“I sincerely believe that everyone involved in these conversations has the best, long-term interest of the museum at heart. And I think it behooves us to ensure that we’re considering every possible configuration to do so,” he wrote.
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich after the May 5 council meeting said he appreciates Dunlop’s resolution recognizes the city and county’s shared history with the Neville and the desire to convene a community conversation to shape the museum’s future.
“We’re not in a position to offer to purchase the Neville, but we welcome the conversation,” Genrich said.
Contact business reporter Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @JeffBollier.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay delays action on Neville museum director amid uncertainty
Reporting by Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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