Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander is the chief digital information officer for the Cleveland Museum of Art. As CDIO, Jane is responsible for creating transformative, awe-inspiring, and iterative digital projects in support of the CMA’s mission. With a focus on organizational evolution, Jane leads strategy, concept, design, and implementation of interactive experiences. Jane believes the most important responsibility of a leader is to attract and develop great people, with a commitment to empower staff and get things done.

Under Jane’s leadership, the CMA launched a comprehensive Open Access initiative, which allows the public to share, collaborate, remix, and reuse high-resolution images of public-domain artworks as well as metadata for all artworks, for commercial and noncommercial purposes. Additionally, Jane has led, from its inception in 2010, the many iterations of ARTLENS Gallery. This world-renowned experience inspires museum visitors to establish a connection with the CMA’s extensive collection.

In 2020, while transitioning the museum’s staff to working remotely, Jane led the creation of award-winning online AI tool sets, taking the opportunity to think creatively about online interaction. The museum created several API-driven tool sets with virtual visitors’ diverse needs in mind. Jane has moved the museum to be a data-driven, technologically forward-thinking institution.

Jane leads the development of in-gallery digital experiences, including Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia’s Sacred Mountain, an unprecedented exhibition that opened in November 2021. This first scholarly exhibition of its kind provided immersive mixed-reality experiences to visitors, using technology alongside exceptional works of Cambodian art to tell the story of the history and restoration of the CMA’s monumental sculpture.

Jane is a frequent speaker at local and international conferences and is a member of various boards. Before coming to the museum, Jane developed and directed Columbia University’s acclaimed distance education program and led the development of university-wide resources for instructional technology and methodology. Jane has also worked on several high-profile projects in Cleveland, most notably as the technology director and design consultant to the Frank Gehry–designed Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University and as the virtual CIO to Great Lakes Science Center. Jane holds a BA in architecture and a BS/MS in applied mathematics from Columbia University.

MuseumNext Digital Collections Summit
Monday, 10 October 2022

Iteration Makes Our Backend A Star

For over a decade, the Cleveland Museum of Art has prioritised digitisation, iterating on integrated backend systems and systematised workflows to be flexible, AI searchable and API-driven. This investment allows us to innovate, pivot and lead in the museum field.

CMA’s digitisation methodology spans from creation to preservation for both 2D and 3D.  Our current focus on photogrammetry, conservation, AI toolsets, a public API, and a comprehensive Open Access policy serve as a springboard for new ways to bring people into our collection, to focus on a future utilising digitised assets for forays into the metaverse and reimagined digital spaces.

Find the full schedule here