For a while there, a ton of major art museums in the United States were on the hunt for new leaders. Ambitious curators had reasons to polish their resumes and to hope. They still do, but some of the biggest jobs have been getting filled of late.
Late last month, the awkwardly named Buffalo AKG Art Museum promoted within, making Cathleen Chaffee artistic director and Jillian Jones executive director. Shortly before that, the New Museum promoted its artistic director, Massimiliano Gioni, to the top job. And in April, Melissa Chiu was tapped by the Guggenheim New York after a dozen years at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
The latest big hire just happened in Oregon, where the Portland Art Museum (PAM) named Michael J. Anderson as its next director. (He will be the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Director, to be exact; William Van Meter wrote about the Schnitzers’ art-collecting son, Jordan, for Artnet News earlier this year.)
Anderson is coming from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA), where he has been president and CEO since 2019. He expanded OKCMOA’s collection by 30 percent and established a OKCMOA Film Society, according to a news release.
In Portland, Anderson is taking the place of Brian Ferriso, who departed PAM last year to run the Dallas Museum of Art, after overseeing a $116 million expansion and renovation. (Fun fact: PAM is one of the oldest art museums in the U.S., dating back to 1892. Alas, the Portland Museum of Art in Maine is a decade older.)
The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. Photo: J. David Ake / Getty Images.
So! Where might an aspiring museum director send a resume these days? The Hirshhorn and OKCMOA are looking, as we have established. Also, Madeleine Grynsztejn announced that she will step down as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, it’s been more than a year since Johanna Burton said she would decamp from the Museum of Contemporary Art for the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia. (That seems like a difficult job, judging by some recent directors’ tenures.) Ann Goldstein is currently helming the ship as its interim director.
There’s also the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, but applicants will need nerves of steel to step into that role. Being in charge of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, sounds like a lot more fun. (Fun town, cool collection.) Its job listing for a “visionary leader” mentions a salary range of $380,000 to $450,000.
The redoubtable Dia Art Foundation is also in need of a new director, since its chief, Jessica Morgan, is headed to run Tate. That perch has historically been a very solid launching pad for museum stars. Michael Govan went on to run the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Philippe Vergne proceeded to lead MOCA L.A.
Also, as Dia’s director, you get to oversee Spiral Jetty (1970). Spiral Jetty_!_