Orlando Museum of Art

Whitney Goin is enchanted by the visual arts. “Art tells a story different from the written word and it lets your imagination go wild,” she offered enthusiastically. As a lifelong resident of Orlando, Goin has been heavily involved in the community and regularly supports the visual and performing arts. Her main concentration aside from being a Trustee and Ambassador of the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) has been working with several theatre companies in town, including the Vine Theatre and the Repertory Theatre. She also works with high schools, elementary and preschools around the area through outreach programs.

Whitney owns the house she grew up in. She has been married to her husband Bruce for 16 years, has three boys, three dogs and a chipmunk. She graduated from Lake Highland Prep High School and attended Florida State University where she studied theatre, speech and marketing. She always had a great interest in art growing up and gravitated towards the theatre because it incorporated visual and performing arts. “Theatre is my true love,” says Whitney. “I think that the arts are crucial and nothing else can inspire intellect as well as emotion.” Because of this belief, she has routinely coordinated performances at the Repertory Theatre where they have incorporated visual artists.
Whitney was asked to join the OMA Board of Trustees by a good friend who was already on the Board. “I immediately thought of my children and how I could give them that sense of ownership [of the OMA] that I never had growing up.”

One of Whitney’s projects as an OMA Trustee was to help coordinate support for The World of William Joyce, the OMA’s 2008 Children’s Picture Book Art exhibition. “Last year I started a program where the families come together to sponsor the book series called the Heritage Circle. It was a great group of families who all live here in Orlando. We hosted several successful events related to the exhibitions, one of which was a big ice cream social at the museum.”

“I feel that [the OMA] is a hidden treasure. It is a beautiful microcosm of teamwork, artwork and beauty that enriches the community and enriches our children with the visual arts by using the minds and the hearts of the people.” Whitney is drawn to art works that shed light on common human experience . “I am changed when an artist or playwright creates to take our focus off of ourselves and appreciate that there is something so much grander at work.  Through empathy, shock, absurd humor, simple beauty or extreme imagination.”

Currently Whitney is taking a book called Same Kind of Different as Me and adapting it to a play. “We are hoping to collaborate with the OMA further once we get it up and running,” says Whitney. As a true Ambassador of the OMA she feels her duty is to get the word out to the community and be a voice on behalf of the museum. “It gives me such a springboard to conversations that I could have never imagined. I hope that my love and passion for the arts helps me as a Trustee through my heart felt expression and appreciation for OMA.” 

Written by : Elizabeth Rosenthal