After months of legal disputes and position shifts, the Board of Trustees of Institute of Contemporary Art Miami has appointed leadership at the newly established museum.
Joining the former board and staff of the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami is Suzanne Weaver, a 20-year veteran of the industry who has held positions at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Speed Art Museum, where she most recently served as curator of modern and contemporary art.
See also: MOCA Board Reportedly Leaving North Miami to Form New Art Museum in Design District
Alex Gartenfeld, who was hired at MOCA in 2013 as a curator, will now act as deputy director and chief curator of ICA. Gartenfeld will oversee the institution's curatorial and public programming. Prior to his appointment at MOCA, Gartenfield was editing for Art in America and Interview.
Officials also announced today that ICA Miami, currently located in a temporary space in the Moore Building that was provided rent-free by Miami Design District Associates, will open to the public in December 2014. The Board continues to plan for the establishment of a new, permanent location, as it nears completion on a resolution with the City of North Miami, which owned its former facility.
MOCA has been in the middle of a tug of war between the museum board and the city. The dispute revolves around who controls the museum's collection of 600 works by greats such as Louise Nevelson and Jose Bedia.
The board, along with staff including Gartenfeld, moved out of the MOCA building in North Miami in early August. MOCA and the city of North Miami had been in negotiations over their split since June. That month, a source inside those negotiations predicted Gartenfeld would depart the North Miami museum along with the board.
According to ICA Miami associate director Tommy Pace, the Board and City of North Miami are entering into the final stages of a settlement.
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