Director Charles Venable is leaving the Speed Art Museum next month. The Board of Governors of the Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today that Venable has been appointed The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the Museum. Venable joined the Speed five years ago, leading the museum during the development and funding of a $50 million renovation and expansion project, which will close the museum to the public for three years next month.The Speed board of trustees executive committee will meet next week to discuss interim leadership. Chair Todd Lowe says he believes the museum’s transition period will be helpful for the executive director search.“You’ll have someone coming into a situation where the money is raised, the new building is well underway, and I think by the time they get here we’ll be in the process of really starting to ramp back up for the opening of the new space,” says Lowe. Lowe also says the expansion means the next director will need to be an experienced operations director in addition to having art expertise.“I can’t be prescriptive because we don’t have a search committee with a profile built yet, but I’m sure we’re going to want to have somebody that understands how to operate a space that has a lot of revenue-producing potential,” he says.The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today Venable will start his new position on October 8. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is older and larger than the Speed, with about four times as many pieces of art in its permanent collection.
