Breaking: Bill Arning leaving

Big news out of Texas, where Bill Arning, the acclaimed curator of the MIT List Visual Arts Center, will take over as director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.

In a statement from Houston:

“The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston just celebrated its 60th anniversary and as we look forward to our next sixty years, it is with the greatest enthusiasm that I announce the election today by the Board of Trustees of Bill Arning as the Museums new director,” said Reggie Smith, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and of the Trustee Search Committee. “Mr. Arning impressed us not only with his experience and scholarship but also with his infectious energy and love of contemporary art. He is an internationally respected art curator and writer whose prior experience as a director satisfies the Museums long-standing conviction that a successful museum leader possess an understanding of both roles. We are confident that he will be an asset both to the Museum and the city of Houston; his track record is one of active involvement with the community—visiting artists studios, meeting the public, talking with students, collaborating with arts organizations, and engaging the community at large.”

In addition to his nine years at MIT, Arning was director and chief curator of White Columns Alternative Art Space in New York from 1985-1996. And before that, he was one of the proud members of The Student Teachers.

Photograph by Topher Cox.