Susan Krane, director of the CU Art Galleries, the visual arts museum of the University of Colorado at Boulder, has accepted the directorship of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Scottsdale museum is a new facility of 22,000 square feet with an operating budget of $2.3 million.
"We are very sorry to lose Susan, but this is a wonderful opportunity for her," said Peter Spear, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "She has helped us position the CU Art Galleries for continued growth and development, including the construction of a larger art museum as part of the new Visual Arts Complex."
Krane will remain at the CU Art Galleries through Sept. 7, the date of a community party for the popular special exhibition "William Wegman: Strange But True," which features photographs of Wegman's family of Weimeraner dogs in front of historic circus backdrops.
The CU Art Galleries' operating budget has doubled to approximately $400,000 during Krane's five-year tenure, largely due to private gifts and grants. Krane instituted an active program of cross-disciplinary public educational events and of special exhibitions, most organized in-house. The CU Art Galleries exhibition "Out of Order: Mapping Social Space" is touring nationally.
She instituted an advisory board and a benefactor's salon, which have been instrumental in broadening community participation; established a highly skilled professional staff; spurred student and faculty research on the Colorado Collection; and launched a Web site and a catalog of traveling exhibitions that serve communities across Colorado.
In collaboration with Mark Addison, Alan Rudy, Deborah Haynes and many other colleagues and community members, Krane played a major role over the past three years in the development of the conceptual design, planning and capital campaign for the Visual Arts Complex, which will house a new university museum
and the fine arts department. The $44 million project has been approved by the CU Board of Regents and now will be reviewed by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.
"I am grateful for all of the hard work and the support of my wonderful staff and board, and of the many donors, artists, volunteers, faculty, students and administrators who have made the CU Art Galleries growth possible," Krane said. "It's been a great team effort."
Plans for an interim director and the search for a new director will be announced.