Early Tuesday morning the Memorial Art Gallery announced that Grant
Holcomb, the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the institution, will
retire effective July 1, 2014. Holcomb has been MAG director since 1985, and
under his tenure he shepherded the ongoing year-long 100th anniversary
celebration and the development of the Centennial Sculpture Park.
The search for the next director of the museum — only the seventh in its
100-year history — will be led by a national search firm.
The official press release follows:
GRANT HOLCOMB ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM MEMORIAL ART GALLERY
ROCHESTER, NY, NOVEMBER 19, 2013 — Grant Holcomb, the Mary W. and Donald
R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester,
announced his retirement as director effective July 1, 2014. Holcomb noted that
after an eventful year-long celebration of the Gallery’s 100th anniversary and
the successful opening of Centennial Sculpture Park, the timing was right for
him, as well as for the Gallery and the University. Board of Managers President
Jim Durfee will lead a search committee charged with
identifying a successor.
Holcomb stated, “What more appropriate time to conclude my long
tenure as director than after an extraordinary and exhilarating year-long
celebration of the Gallery’s Centennial anniversary.”
Holcomb, the sixth director in the Gallery’s long history, assumed the
position in 1985 and over the course of three decades enhanced the Gallery’s
permanent collections, broadened its exhibition programs and expanded the
facilities. He led collaborations with cultural, educational and medical
organizations that kept the Memorial Art Gallery an active leader for public
engagement.
“Grant has shaped the Gallery’s internal and external spaces and
enhanced its collections in ways that will benefit art lovers for generations
to come,” University President Joel Seligman said.
Pete Brown, former President of the Board of Managers, recounts, “I
had the pleasure of chairing the search committee that brought Grant to
Rochester 28 years ago. We were struck then by his ability to share the art
experience with everyone, regardless of background. To have had the singular
continuity of Grant’s steady leadership and focus over the intervening years
has enriched MAG and our community far beyond our most ambitious
expectations.”
Under Holcomb’s direction, the Gallery initiated high-profile
exhibitions featuring the work of Maxfield Parrish,
Edgar Degas, Georgia O’Keeffe and Jacob Lawrence. MAG also acquired works of
art ranging
from an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and a Renaissance suit
of armor to works by such noted 19th- and 20th-century artists as Albert
Bierstadt, Leonard Volk, Walter Goodman, George Bellows, Joseph Cornell, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith and Christian Boltanski.
The Centennial year culminated with the addition of major contemporary works by
Yayoi Kusama and Kehinde
Wiley.
Holcomb supported significant initiatives between the Gallery’s
Education Department and the University of Rochester Medical
Center, the ARC of Monroe and the Alzheimer’s Association, among others.
Programs like The Art of Observation and Meet Me at the MAG brought national
recognition as medical professionals and caregivers, working with MAG staff,
drew on the powers of art to enhance awareness and wellness.
Holcomb has long supported collaborative partnerships with other
cultural organizations. Last year he received an award from Writers & Books
for his “lifelong contributions to Rochester’s literary community.”
Under his direction, the Gallery worked with, among others, Garth Fagan Dance,
George Eastman House, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Eastman School of
Music, Writers & Books and Rochester Contemporary Art Center.
Holcomb also brought significant changes to the buildings and grounds of
the Memorial Art Gallery. At the beginning of his tenure, the addition of the VandenBrul Pavilion linked the
original 1913 building to Cutler Union establishing a new indoor art space and
main Gallery entrance on University Avenue. Most recently MAG completed the
Centennial Sculpture Park and opened up the grounds committing the outdoor
space to public art and community engagement. Four new site-specific sculptures
make the park the largest initiative in Gallery history.
Holcomb is held in high regard by those who worked directly with him.
His leadership fostered an environment of dedication and commitment at MAG
summarized by a recent museum evaluator: “We have never seen a more
dedicated group of board, staff and volunteers”.
Working with a national search firm, the formal process of accepting
nominations for MAG’s next Director will begin, said Durfee.
In addition to the Search Committee, finalists also will be interviewed by
representatives of the Board of Managers, MAG senior staff, and University of
Rochester leadership.
“Grant Holcomb has built a singular legacy of quality, character
and community engagement,” Durfee said. “No
one has been more effective at connecting diverse audiences with art.”
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2013.
