The current pandemic is creating enormous challenges for nonprofit and for-profit organizations alike. In the midst of it, one of those long-active nonprofits — the Phoenix Art Museum — has named its new head. Tim Rodgers will fill the void created when former director Amada Cruz left for Seattle last July.
Rodgers’ current job is directing the Wolfsonian-Florida International University in Miami, and he’s the former director of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Scottsdale. Rodgers takes over at a time when the museum faces challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 virus. He also has to deal with rebuilding bridges among some of its former and current supporters, who may not have appreciated the approach of the previous regime.
Rodgers was selected by a search committee headed by Don Opatrny of the museum’s Board of Trustees. Opatrny told The Show that Rodgers was chosen after a competitive process, but that there was concern when the search began.
Opatrny said that, in addition to a knowledge of arts, committee members looked for three specific qualities they wanted the next director to have.
The Show also spoke with Rodgers, who will officially take the role of the museum's CEO and director on July 1, about his vision for the museum.
