Wanted: Arts Czar

Looking for a job? There are plenty of openings at the top of the Twin Cities art scene. If you are an internationally respected manager of a multimillion-dollar arts organization, it may be time to dust off your resumé, because jobs in the Twin Cities are opening up all over the place. 

Contemporary Curator: Earlier this year, Walker Art Center director Kathy Halbreich called it quits after sixteen years, leaving one of the most prestigious posts in the contemporary art world up for grabs. Halbreich leaves November 1, and an international search for a worthy successor is underway. 

Missing in Action: In May, Minneapolis Institute of Arts director and president William Griswold announced that he’s leaving the Twin Cities after only eighteen months on the job. Griswold is taking over as director of the highly regarded Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, but will remain at the MIA through January 31, 2008.

Long Curtain Call: Over at the Ordway Center, it took almost two years to replace former president David Galligan after he resigned in June 2006. The Ordway’s new president, Patricia Mitchell—former executive director of both the San Francisco Opera and Los Angeles Opera—starts on August 1.

No Experience Necessary: Aspiring arts czars can take some comfort in knowing that lack of experience is not necessarily a disqualification for the job. In May, former state auditor Judi Dutcher took over as president of the Museum of Russian Art in south Minneapolis, even though she had no administrative experience whatsoever in the arts.

So don’t be shy. Apply now.