{"id":2449362,"date":"2019-09-30T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=313652"},"modified":"2019-09-30T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T04:00:00","slug":"aspen-art-museum-director-departs-with-questions-unanswered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-art-museum-director-departs-with-questions-unanswered\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Art Museum director departs with questions unanswered"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Aspen Art Museum photographed in 2018 with Paula Hayes’ plant installation in the foreground.<\/strong>
Aspen Times file<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Aspen Art Museum director Heidi Zuckerman\u2019s last day at her post was Monday, ending 14 years as its leader.<\/p>\n

Zuckerman\u2019s tenure \u2014 longer than any director in the museum\u2019s 40-year history \u2014 included unprecedented growth in funding, attendance and global renown for the contemporary art museum. But the end came without explanation.<\/p>\n

Neither Zuckerman nor other museum officials and board members have answered question about her departure since it was announced by a New York-based public relations<\/a> firm on June 28.<\/p>\n

Zuckerman carried out her duties through the summer and spoke at events including the early July opening of an exhibition by Rashid Johnson<\/a>, the 15th annual ArtCrush gala<\/a> and the 24-hour \u201cWhole Celebration\u201d<\/a> honoring the museum\u2019s 40th anniversary<\/a> in August. But she has not spoken publicly or on the record with the media about the circumstances of her contract not being renewed.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear what factors led to the decision. No answers have been offered by Zuckerman or the board as to what prompted it, as interview requests on the topic have been denied or unanswered over the past three months.<\/p>\n

Museum staff and supporters, including members of its National Council, were unaware her departure was coming before the June 28 announcement and said in recent weeks they had still not been informed as to the reason for it.<\/p>\n

Zuckerman\u2019s departure has coincided with changes in the financial leadership of the institution. A new chief financial officer, Tyler Schube, came on board early this year. The museum\u2019s development director, Lisa DeLosso, departed early this summer, shortly before ArtCrush, the institution\u2019s largest development and fundraising event. And Nancy Magoon, among the museum\u2019s most generous donors, placed her Aspen house up for sale in July<\/a>. Magoon\u2019s gifts included a $2.5 million endowment for the directorship, held by Zuckerman and named for Magoon and her late husband, Bob<\/a>, in 2012.<\/p>\n

The museum has retained executive search firm Phillips Oppenheim to find a new director<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In an interview on May 13, six weeks before the announcement that she would step down, Zuckerman was asked why she had stayed with the museum for 14 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the reason I\u2019ve stayed here so long is that I feel I\u2019m doing something that matters. When I stop feeling like that, then I\u2019ll go and do something else,\u201d she said at the time. \u201cIt\u2019s certainly not that I haven\u2019t had other opportunities. I get asked all the time to do other things. But I feel ownership of this place and I just don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m done yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The museum sent an e-mail blast to members on Sept. 24 with a paragraph titled \u201cHonoring AAM Nancy and Bob Magoon CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman.\u201d<\/p>\n

It closed: \u201cThe AAM Board of Trustees, National Council, and AAM staff all thank (Zuckerman) for her visionary leadership and dedicated service. We are extremely grateful to her efforts during her tenure and wish her tremendous success and happiness in all her future endeavors, just as we look ahead to the next exciting chapter in the future of the amazing institution Heidi has been so vital in helping to shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The museum also posted a photo montage of Zuckerman\u2019s years at the museum on Instagram Monday afternoon with the messages \u201cThank You Heidi!\u201d and \u201c14 Years of Leadership at the AAM.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zuckerman reposted it on her Facebook page under the comment: \u201cLeaving so much better than when I arrived and with so much gratitude!!\u201d<\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Today is our current Nancy and Bob Magoon CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman\u2019s (@HeidiZuckerman) final day at the AAM. Throughout over fourteen years of her leadership, we have accomplished no end of groundbreaking milestones and presented a host of fantastic and eye-opening exhibitions, public events, and educational programs. From the first ArtCrush through the construction of our new home in downtown Aspen and beyond, it has been an exciting and unparalleled time for our institution. Thank you, Heidi, for such an amazing time, and for your service to the AAM, the Aspen community, and to art lovers everywhere! . . #HeidiZuckerman #AspenArtMuseum #ArtCrush #Aspen #AspenColorado #TheAAM #Artforall<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Aspen Art Museum<\/a> (@aspenartmuseum) on

atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Aspen Art Museum photographed in 2018 with Paula Hayes’ plant installation in the foreground.Aspen Times file Aspen Art Museum director Heidi Zuckerman\u2019s last day at her post was Monday, ending 14 years as its leader. Zuckerman\u2019s tenure \u2014 longer than any director in the museum\u2019s 40-year history \u2014 included unprecedented growth in funding, attendance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2449362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 14:51:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2449362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2449362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2449362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2449362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}