More Turmoil Hits the Long-Delayed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as Its Founding Director Resigns

After years of delayed launches and missed fund-raising goals,
the Academy Museum of Motion
Pictures in Los Angeles is facing more turmoil this week. Its
director, Kerry Brougher, who has been heading up the nascent
institution since 2014, announced he would be leaving the
post.

The news comes just months after
the museum decided to postpone its opening date from this year to
2020—the second time it has delayed its highly-anticipated
launch—and just weeks before
construction is expected to be complete on the $388 million
Renzo Piano-designed facility.

“It has been a privilege for me
to work with this Board, our donors, the great Renzo Piano, and all
of my colleagues who have participated in creating this unique
Museum,” Brougher said in a statement. “I’m very proud of the work done by our amazing
team,” he added. “Now is the right time for me to pass the
baton.” A statement
from the Academy Museum’s board said that Brougher plans to “return
to his roots in the art world.”

Brougher joined the Academy in
2014 after a nine-year stint as a curator and, later, acting
director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden. Prior to that, he was a curator for the Museum of
Contemporary Art Los Angeles and director of the English gallery
now called Modern Art
Oxford. 

His hiring at the Academy Museum
was a polarizing one. His detractors claimed his art background
left him unsuited to lead an institution dedicated to popular film,
while proponents pointed to his curatorial history championing
ambitious film exhibitions as a sign of his potential for
success. 

Since then, Brougher has been
the subject of increasing criticism. In late 2018, the museum fell
more than $100 million short of its $388 million campaign goal,
making it clear that it would no longer be possible to open within
the year, as Brougher had previously announced.

Then, in April, the museum’s
deputy director for creative content, Deborah Horowitz, departed
her post under unclear terms—a sign, some speculated, that the
board was frustrated by the lack of progress.

“We thank Kerry for his
dedicated service on behalf of the Museum,” read a statement from
the Academy Museum’s board. “His work over the last five years on
the Museum’s construction and in-depth collections well-positions
us to move into the next phase of this ambitious project. Kerry’s
strong curatorial team will continue to work with us toward the
Museum’s opening, and a search for a new Museum Director will begin
shortly.” 

The search for Brougher’s
successor will begin soon, according to
Variety. In a memo to
museum staff, the board’s CEO Dawn Hudson claimed the former
director would “remain available to the Museum for calls and
consultation as needed” to aide in the transition.

The Academy Museum did not
respond to a request for comment. 

The post More Turmoil Hits the Long-Delayed Academy Museum
of Motion Pictures as Its Founding Director Resigns appeared
first on artnet News.