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As the Museum of Contemporary Art prepares to reopen after a historic pandemic closure, it finds itself in the midst of restructuring, moving director Klaus Biesenbach into the role of artistic director and hiring an executive director to co-run the institution with him.
But The Times has spoken with more than two dozen people including current and former MOCA employees, artists, curators and executives at other museums, and the majority were skeptical of the dual leadership model. Some said two cooks in the kitchen would inevitably lead to conflict; others questioned whether the unusual structure is something of a smokescreen if, in fact, MOCA is demoting Biesenbach to a role similar to chief curator. Will the new executive director really be holding the reins at the institution, which has seen
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.
The task should have been simple for an executive search firm like m/Oppenheim Associates. The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields was paying the company to help bring a new director through its doors. But the job listing on the search firm’s website created an explosive controversy when it expressly requested that applicants help attract not only a more diverse crowd, but also maintain its “traditional, core, white art audience.”