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Sculpture Park director to leave(St. Louis Post-Dispatch Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 16--Laumeier Sculpture Park Director Glen Gentele has been appointed President and CEO of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. He will leave Laumeier at the end of December. Gentele also was the Aronson Endowed Professor for Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Gentele, 45, came to Laumeier in 2001 from the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla. He is given credit for putting a foundering museum back on track after internal political struggles resulted in low staff morale and the deterioration of some of the park's site-specific outdoor sculptures. Among other things, Gentele was responsible for restoring several pieces installed in the 1970s and 1980s, and for adding new works to the permanent collection. Gentele also was responsible for establishing a new long-term vision for the institution, which occupies 105 acres in a St. Louis County park in suburban Sunset Hills. During his tenure, the sculpture park acquired an additional seven acres of parkland, constructed a new pavilion in the Children's Sculpture Garden and embarked on planning for other expansion. Such local and national artists as Sue Eisler, John Waters, Mark di Suvero, Sol LeWitt, Tobias Putrih, Robert Chambers, Tony Tasset and Joseph Havel have been featured in Laumeier exhibitions under Gentele. "We are so fortunate that Glen was at the helm of Laumeier during a critical time in our institution's evolution," said Laumeier Board Chairman John Wuest. "He has had a significant impact in the St. Louis community." According to its website, the Oklahoma museum has about 170,000 visitors a year. It claims to have the most comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly glass in the world, and houses a permanent collection of 19th- and 20th-century European and American art. Gentele will replace Carolyn Hill in Oklahoma City, who is retiring. Wuest said Laumeier's executive committee would embark on a search for Gentele's successor soon. [email protected] -- 314-340-8351 To see more of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stltoday.com. Copyright (c) 2008, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |