Steve McGuire named acting director of University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art

Steve McGuire

The University of Iowa has announced that Steve McGuire, professor and director of the School of Art and Art History, will serve as acting director of the UI Stanley Museum of Art. McGuire will take over for Jim Leach, former Iowa congressman and chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, who has served in an interim role since Jan. 1, 2017.

Leach, UI chair in public affairs and joint visiting professor in the College of Law and the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will shift his focus to his teaching and research duties as a visiting professor.

“As we prepare to name a permanent director for the museum, I want to thank Jim for his leadership during this challenging transitional period for the Museum of Art,” says Sue Curry, UI interim executive vice president and provost.

“It was an honor and a pleasure to oversee one of the finest university collections of art,” Leach says. “Now that we’ve reached this stage of the search process, I feel confident that the museum is in a position to continue to showcase iconic works by diverse artists for years to come.”

McGuire, who has been a co-chair of the search committee for a new director of the Stanley Museum of Art, received an MA in sculpture and a PhD in art teaching and learning from the UI and has been part of the faculty since 1988. In addition to serving as director in the School of Art and Art History, McGuire is a professor of metal arts and 3-D design. He also heads the UI’s renowned Hand-Built Bicycle Program.

“As co-chair of the search committee, Steve has played an integral role in helping us find the right person to lead the Stanley Museum of Art in this exciting time in its history,” Curry says. “I’m grateful for his further willingness to serve the university in this capacity, and we’re confident he’ll expertly lead the museum during this time of transition.”

“The Museum of Art has a mission to support education and research in the field of art and art history, which is consistent with my role in the School of Art and Art History,” McGuire says. “My job is to facilitate a smooth transition to a new director. We have strong candidates, and I don’t foresee the museum needing me for long.”

McGuire will serve in the acting position until a permanent director is hired.

Former Stanley Museum of Art Director Sean O’Harrow, who grew up in Hawaii, resigned his position in January 2017 to run the Honolulu Museum of Art.

A university search committee has selected three final candidates for the position. The candidates will visit campus over two weeks to participate in public forums and meet with faculty, staff, and students.

The times, dates, and locations of the open forums are as follows:

• 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, April 16, 101 Becker Communication Studies Building
• 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, N120 College of Public Health Building
• 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. Monday, April 23, Big Ten Theatre, Iowa Memorial Union

The name of each candidate will be announced 24 hours before their arrival at the UI. At that time, the candidate’s curriculum vitae will be made available on the Stanley Museum of Art director search page.

Curry will make the final selection for a new director after the campus visits.

New building
The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved a plan to construct a new building for the University of Iowa’s art museum, which was displaced from its original facility by the floods of 2008. Construction of the new building, which will be located adjacent to the UI’s Main Library and next to Gibson Square Park, will begin in 2018 with a planned public opening in 2020. Until the new museum opens, exhibitions will continue in a dedicated space in the Iowa Memorial Union and at the Figge Museum in Davenport, Iowa. Other portions of the collection, including the museum’s renowned Mural, by Jackson Pollock, will continue to travel for viewing at other museums.

The museum is the final structure to be rebuilt on the UI campus in the aftermath of the 2008 flood. It will complete a vibrant arts campus that serves the university, the community, and the state. The $50 million, 63,000-square-foot museum will host exhibitions from the museum’s collection and provide space for study, research, and storage of artwork, allowing the museum to continue serving Iowa through traveling exhibitions and programming.