Mary Rayburn

Mary Rayburn’s love for fine arts and music began with her move to New York City in the 1970s, working at cultural institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art’s P.S.1, The Dia Art Foundation and The Brooklyn Museum of Art. It was her role in the finance departments at New York City’s public radio station, WNYC, and WBGO, one of the nation’s few all-Jazz public radio stations, that established a long-standing belief that cultural programming and journalistic freedom are critical to every community.

Her dedication to the arts continued in Davenport, Iowa where she and her husband Chris raised two daughters while growing a family business. There she served on the board of the Friends of the Davenport Museum of Art (Figge Art Museum) and various leadership roles volunteering in the music and theater departments of Davenport Central High School and First Presbyterian Church. Mary and Chris enjoy visiting their two grown daughters, who currently live in Chicago.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Rayburn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Kalamazoo College, Michigan, and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and continued with advance degree classes at Manhattan’s Marymount College while employed in New York City.