{"id":4394,"date":"2016-05-17T16:56:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T21:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/?p=4394"},"modified":"2016-05-24T15:02:33","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T20:02:33","slug":"milwaukee-art-museum-announces-new-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/2016\/05\/milwaukee-art-museum-announces-new-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee Art Museum Announces New Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"13254244_10154235868353023_8398114515359633330_n\"<\/a>Milwaukee Art Museum Announces New Director<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Marcelle Polednik selected from field of dozens of national candidates;\u00a0poised to harness Museum\u2019s momentum –<\/em><\/p>\n

Milwaukee, Wis. \u2013 May 17, 2016<\/strong> \u2013 The Milwaukee Art Museum board of trustees announced today it\u00a0has selected Dr. Marcelle Polednik as the first Donna and Donald Baumgartner director. Polednik,\u00a0currently the director and chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, joins the\u00a0Museum at a significant time in its history after an extensive $34 million renovation, reinstallation and\u00a0expansion project, and the historic acquisition of the O\u2019Donnell Property. Polednik was selected after a\u00a0robust national search from a field of dozens of candidates. She is expected to start working at the\u00a0Museum in mid-August.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing a year of transformative and groundbreaking projects, the Milwaukee Art Museum is\u00a0embarking on a period of tremendous growth and opportunity. Our board sought a candidate who\u00a0recognized that momentum, and could build on it and take the institution to the next level,\u201d said Don\u00a0Layden, president of the Milwaukee Art Museum\u2019s board of trustees. \u201cMarcelle is forward-thinking,\u00a0bright and innovative, and we\u2019re thrilled she\u2019s coming to Milwaukee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polednik brings extensive experience to the Museum. At MOCA Jacksonville, she redefined the\u00a0Museum\u2019s artistic vision and mission, shifting the emphasis from traveling exhibitions to self-curated\u00a0projects, which now comprise nearly all of the Museum\u2019s artistic initiatives. Under her leadership, the\u00a0Museum\u2019s exhibition program grew in both number and stature. The founding of the Museum\u2019s Project\u00a0Atrium<\/em> series\u2014a suite of site-specific commissions by emerging and mid-career artists\u2014invigorated the\u00a0Museum\u2019s monumental Atrium gallery and bolstered MOCA\u2019s experimental approach to artistic\u00a0collaboration and audience participation, as recognized by a two-year grant from the Andy Warhol\u00a0Foundation for the Visual Arts. In addition to the founding of this significant series, Polednik charted the\u00a0vision for MOCA\u2019s featured exhibition program, refining MOCA\u2019s artistic philosophy. While adding\u00a0variety to the exhibition program and growing the permanent collection, Polednik focused on cultivating a\u00a0distinct MOCA-branded interpretative approach that connected the projects across the varied media and\u00a0subject matter they may individually explore.<\/p>\n

The emphasis on self-curated projects as well as Polednik\u2019s innovative approach to the artistic vision as a\u00a0whole have raised the profile of the organization, bringing a new level of local, regional and national\u00a0attention to the Museum. They have also spurred key partnerships with collectors and cultural\u00a0organizations nationwide, as evidenced by MOCA\u2019s growing traveling exhibition program. While at the\u00a0helm of the Museum, Polednik curated several significant curatorial initiatives\u2014SLOW: Marking Time in\u00a0Photography and Film<\/em> (2012); Abstraction over Time: The Paintings of Michael Goldberg<\/em> (2013),\u00a0WHITE<\/em> (2015) and Hans Hofmann: Works on Paper<\/em> (2017).<\/p>\n

As she redefined the Museum\u2019s curatorial program, Polednik also brought a renewed emphasis on\u00a0MOCA\u2019s award-winning signature educational outreach initiatives, focusing on growing both their\u00a0breadth and depth. Under her leadership, MOCA\u2019s attendance grew by more than 70 percent and general\u00a0admission revenue increased by 147 percent. Through these activities, Polednik ushered in the Museum\u2019s\u00a0philanthropic revival, raising annual contributed income by 75 percent ahead of the 40 percent budgetary\u00a0growth. The focus on artistic integrity, excellence and innovation also paved the way for growing interest\u00a0from national funding sources and precipitated last year\u2019s announcement of the largest gift ever given to a\u00a0cultural organization in Jacksonville\u2019s history. This announcement was followed by the January 2016\u00a0launch of MOCA\u2019s rebrand, which emphasized a bold new approach to the Museum\u2019s digital sphere,\u00a0online presence and virtual audience engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to lead the Milwaukee Art Museum at the defining moment in the life of this exceptional\u00a0institution,\u201d Polednik said. \u201cBuilding on the solid foundation established by my \u00a0predecessors, I look\u00a0forward to working with the Museum\u2019s talented team, devoted board of trustees and the Milwaukee\u00a0community at large to usher in an era of unprecedented artistic accomplishment, one that charts the path\u00a0to deeper, meaningful audience engagement, financial sustainability and local, regional and national\u00a0renown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to her position at MOCA Jacksonville, Polednik was the chief curator at the Monterey Museum of\u00a0Art. She was also previously an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarcelle brings considerable curatorial and management experience from diverse museums to her new\u00a0role,\u201d said Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown director, Whitney Museum of American Art. \u201cHer\u00a0broad knowledge of 20th century art, her focus on creating distinctive, original exhibitions, her\u00a0commitment to community involvement and her leadership abilities\u2014not to mention her warmth and\u00a0energy\u2014make her the perfectly well-rounded director to lead the Milwaukee Art Museum into its next\u00a0exciting chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polednik earned her doctorate in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and has\u00a0curated numerous exhibitions and authored articles for various catalogs and institutions including The\u00a0Museum of Modern Art in New York. Originally from Poland, Polednik grew up in Deerfield, Ill. She is a\u00a0native speaker of Polish and Czech and is fluent in Slovak, Spanish, French and German. Polednik will be\u00a0moving to Milwaukee with her husband and son.<\/p>\n

The newly named Donna and Donald Baumgartner director title honors a recent $8 million gift to the\u00a0Museum\u2019s endowment from Donna and Donald Baumgartner. Polednik succeeds Dan Keegan, who is\u00a0retiring this month. The executive search for the new director was led by Naree Viner and Charles\u00a0Ingersoll of Korn Ferry.<\/p>\n

About the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on\u00a0the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava\u2013designed Quadracci Pavilion,\u00a0annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen\u2013designed Milwaukee County War\u00a0Memorial Center and David Kahler\u2012designed addition. The Museum recently reopened its Collection\u00a0Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and\u00a0a new lakefront addition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Milwaukee Art Museum Announces New Director – Marcelle Polednik selected from field of dozens of national candidates;\u00a0poised to harness Museum\u2019s momentum – Milwaukee, Wis. \u2013 May 17, 2016 \u2013 The Milwaukee Art Museum board of trustees announced today it\u00a0has selected Dr. Marcelle Polednik as the first Donna and Donald Baumgartner director. Polednik,\u00a0currently the director and … Milwaukee Art Museum Announces New Director<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":888,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-press-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/888"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4394"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4410,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4394\/revisions\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}