Weekly Shuffle: Sotheby’s Exec Joins Pompidou, Phoenix Art Museum Director of 33 Years Leaving, and More

From New Orleans to Jerusalem, this week's job news from around the art world.

Eliza Osbourne at the Art For Africa Auction for American, African American and African Contemporary Art to Benefit AFRICA FOUNDATION, at Sotheby's, New York City, November 17, 2011. © 2014 Patrick McMullan Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
eliza-osbourne-sothebys-pompidou

Eliza Osbourne at the Art For Africa Auction for American, African American and African Contemporary Art to Benefit AFRICA FOUNDATION, at Sotheby’s, New York City, November 17, 2011.
© 2014 Patrick McMullan Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Paris’s Centre Pompidou Foundation has a new executive director in Eliza Osborne, a former Sotheby’s executive.
Jonathan F. Fanton has been named president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reports the New York Times. Former president Leslie Cohen Berlowitz resigned in July amid accusations of resume inflation. Currently the interim director and a Franklin D. Roosevelt visiting fellow at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, New York, Fanton has served as the president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and of the New School, also in New York. He has been a fellow of the Academy since 1999.

James K. Ballinger is retiring as director of the Phoenix Art Museum, reports Artsdaily. He will celebrate 40 years with the museum in December and 33 years as director next February.

As artnet News shared earlier, the Austrian pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale will be curated by Yilmaz Dziewior of the Kunsthaus Bregenz. Meanwhile, the Swiss representative will be Pamela Rosenkranz, as reported by Artforum. The artist is known for embracing such varied issues as globalization, environmentalism, technology, and pop culture in her work.

When Michael M. Kaiser finishes his tenure as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on September 1, he will sign on as co-chairman at performing arts management agency IMG Artists, reports the New York Times. Kaiser is also the president of the Kennedy Center’s DeVos Institute of Arts Management, which he is moving to the University of Maryland, and the two organizations will collaborate. Deborah F. Rutter of the Chicago Symphony will assume Kaiser’s position at the Kennedy Center.

Canada’s federal Heritage minister has appointed Simon Brault to a five year term as director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts. Brault is currently the CEO of the National Theatre School in Montreal, and co-founded Quebec’s annual Journées de la culture (Culture Days).

The Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, has appointed Marta Kuzma, director of the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, Oslo, as its new vice chancellor, reports Artforum.

Elena Filipovic and Adam Szymczyk Photo: Uwe Walter, 2007

Elena Filipovic and Adam Szymczyk.
Photo: Uwe Walter, 2007.

Following Adam Szymczyk’s resignation, Elena Filipovic, a senior curator at the WIELS Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels, will take over as director of the Kunsthalle Basel in November. As artnet News noted in a story last week, the two curators previously worked together at the 2008 Berlin Biennale.

Christie’s Zurich is losing Michele Sandoz to Art Basel, where she will be the head of VIP and visitor services.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts innovation engineer and head of interpretation and participatory experiences, Amanda Thompson Rundahl, has been named the Saint Louis Art Museum‘s director of learning and engagement. In her new role, Rundahl will oversee the Saint Louis Art Museum’s education, art interpretation, and public programming initiatives, reports Artdaily.

The head of photography department at Jeruslaem’s Bezalel Academy is now locally-based photographer and video-artist Dor Guez.

Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens has appointed Wilfried Zeisler, a former curatorial fellow at the institution, as associate curator of 19th-century art, as reported by Artdaily.

Silvia Sgualdini , formerly an associate director at London’s Lisson Gallery, is now the director of Pilar Corrias gallery, also in London.

Only a year after accepting his post, John Lofgren has stepped down as the executive director of the Bakersfield Museum of Art, reports the Bakersfield Californian. Lofgren, who cited his wife’s health as the cause for his resignation, will be replaced on an interim basis by museum board member and retired architect Mark Engelien.

Hugh Wood Inc has hired Jill Arnold, a member of the Appraisers Association advisory council, as a senior vice president. She will handle art and collectibles insurance brokerage.

Prospect New Orleans has hired Robin Wallis Atkinson as assistant director curatorial affairs, Isolde Brielmaier as project consultant, and Imani Jacqueline Brown as manager of publications.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.