TERRY RILEY STEPS DOWN AS DIRECTOR OF MIAMI ART MUSEUM
While the community is still developing a relationship with the staff of Miami Art Museum, we will miss former Director, Terry Riley.
Miami, FL, October 26, 2009 – Aaron Podhurst, Chairman of the Board of Trustees today announced that Terence Riley has resigned as Director of the Miami Art Museum (MAM), effective immediately. Mr. Riley will be resuming his role as partner at Keenen/Riley Architects, with various design and consulting projects in New York, Spain and Mexico, and will continue to work with MAM as a consultant through June 30, 2010 on the creation of their new home in downtown Miami, the final design of which was unveiled this past week.
“We engaged Terry with the dual goals of focusing MAM’s mission and creating a clear vision for the development of the museum’s new building, and he has done a superb job on both,” stated Mr. Podhurst. “On behalf of the board of trustees and the people of Miami I’d like to thank Terry for placing the institution on a solid footing as it moves towards establishing its new home. We look forward to our continuing work with him.”
“Since becoming director of MAM, I have worked closely with the trustees and staff to energize the museum’s programming, build its collections, and design a new home of remarkable distinction that has garnered the broad endorsement of Miami’s civic leaders and citizens. We are now ready to break ground on a building that is poised to be one of the greenest art museums ever built in the Americas,” stated Mr. Riley. “As such, this is the right moment for me to pursue other interests and for MAM to smoothly transition to a new leader who will see this project to its fruition.”
The new building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to break ground in spring 2010 and to open in 2013. The Museum’s capital campaign is ahead of its goal and funding is in place for construction. Since Mr. Riley joined MAM in 2006, the museum has organized a series of critically acclaimed exhibitions, including the current retrospective of the work of Guillermo Kuitca, and its permanent collection has grown significantly. The museum is also South Florida’s largest provider of arts education outside of the Miami Dade Public Schools.
Mr. Podhurst also announced that the museum will be forming a search committee to secure a new director.