The SNF Parkway Theatre and Maryland Film Festival are proud to announce the appointment of Nancy Proctor as Executive Director.
Nancy joins the Parkway following a national search that drew more than 100 applicants from across the country. She brings decades of experience in community engagement, immersive technology, and cultural leadership, most recently serving as the founding Executive Director of the Peale in Baltimore. There, she led the transformation of the historic site into a vibrant community museum and launched The Lab @ The Peale, a hub for inclusive storytelling, immersive media, and digital innovation.
Board Chairman Scot Spencer shared, “We are excited to have someone with Nancy’s record of success in revitalizing the Peale Museum, diverse background in the arts, and affinity for the great architectural institutions of Baltimore as the next executive director of the Maryland Film Festival and the SNF Parkway Theatre. She is the right person at the right time to accelerate our relaunch and new business plan, and with our great staff, continue to grow our community partnerships, and to make the Parkway a keystone in the Station North neighborhood.”
Board Vice Chair Camile Blake Fall added, “As the SNF Parkway continues its transformation into a hub of cultural invention for the Baltimore community, the board is thrilled to have Nancy at the helm, bringing to bear her creative vision, business acumen, and deep community roots.”
Nancy shared:
“My work as re-founding director of The Peale ignited a passion in me for transforming Baltimore’s historic buildings into vibrant platforms for the city’s contemporary communities. Together, the SNF Parkway and Maryland Film Festival can unite the powerful forces of art, technology, and history to create a unique launchpad for creators in all media across the city, state, and beyond.”
Nancy’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for the Parkway as it builds on its renewed vision, which expands programming beyond traditional film exhibition. The Parkway is actively growing its year-round offerings through four key programmatic pillars:
- Film+ (including festival, exhibition, and filmmaker services)
- Live Arts
- Education
- New Media
About Nancy Proctor, Ph.D.
Nancy Proctor is a cultural leader and new technology specialist. After heading up New Media Initiatives and Mobile Strategy at the Smithsonian 2008-2014, she established the first digital division at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and oversaw its marketing, communications, and visitor services teams. She joined The Peale in 2017 as its (re)founding director, spearheading the $5.5 million capital campaign and renovation of the historic museum, and its relaunch as Baltimore’s Community Museum with an apprenticeship program in the historic preservation trades. Since passing the leadership of The Peale to John Suau in January 2026, Nancy has directed The Lab @ The Peale, helping cultural organizations and initiatives get their start, define their purpose, and build community connections for growth, impact, and resilience.
With a Ph.D. in American art history and a background in filmmaking, curation and feminist theory and criticism in the arts, Nancy created her first online exhibition in 1995 and went on to publish New Art, the UK’s first CD-ROM and website of contemporary art in 1996. With Titus Bicknell, she co-founded TheGalleryChannel.com in 1998, which was later acquired by Antenna Audio, a leading audio tour company, where Nancy led New Product Development from 2000-2008 and directed sales in France from 2006-2007. The team’s multimedia tour for Tate Modern won a BAFTA in 2002. When Antenna was acquired by Discovery Communications, Nancy also worked as part of the Travel Channel’s product development team.
From 2010-2011, Nancy served as program chair of the Museum Computer Network (MCN) conferences and, in 2012, became co-chair with Rich Cherry of the international MuseWeb (formerly Museums and the Web) Conferences and edited its annual proceedings. She is editor of Mobile Apps for Museums: The AAM Guide to Planning and Strategy (2010), and with Access Smithsonian and the Institute for Human Centered Design, published Inclusive Digital Interactives: Best Practices + Research (2020). She was also digital editor for Curator: The Museum Journal from 2009-2016. Today, Nancy is a member of the Board of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) and continues to lecture and publish on technology and innovation in the cultural sector, in French and Italian as well as English.