University of Iowa art museum director leaving after ‘significant contribution’

IOWA CITY - After six years atop the University of Iowa Museum of Art - directing it to record-breaking seasons and guiding it toward a new permanent home on campus - Sean O'Harrow is stepping down to run the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Originally from Hawaii, O'Harrow will start in Honolulu in January but stay on as director of the UI Museum of Art until the end of the calendar year 'to provide continuity of service,” according to a news release.

The university will conduct a national search for O'Harrow's replacement, according to UI spokeswoman Anne Bassett.

News of O'Harrow's departure comes just months after the Board of Regents gave the OK for UI officials to proceed with plans for a new art museum - which is expected to sit near the UI Main Library, cost between $50 million and $60 million, and open by 2019.

The UI Museum of Art has been in a state of limbo since the 2008 flood, when water inundated the old museum along Riverside Drive - devastating the structure and dispersing the UI art collection valued at more than $500 million. That means the museum's artwork has been scattered the entire time O'Harrow has been with the museum - as he arrived in 2010 from the Figge Art Museum in Davenport.

Still - through creative use of campus and community resources, traveling exhibits, and shows involving the university's popular Jackson Pollock 'Mural” - the museum has achieved historic audience numbers in recent years. In the 2015 budget year, the UI museum set an record for statewide participation and audience members with 221,879.

In 2014, the museum shattered the record for overall participation with 538,260 - largely due to the Pollock mural's exhibition at the Getty in Los Angeles that attracted 304,349 visitors alone.

In a statement Friday, O'Harrow said, he feels privileged to have had the chance to lead 'one of the finest academic art museums in the country.”

'As a result of incredibly hard work by UIMA staff, people around the world know more about this institution and its collection,” he said. 'And its educational and cultural roles across the state are gaining importance.”

O'Harrow said his goal was to make the public aware of 'this magnificent gem here in Iowa.”

'And with the new facility due to be completed not long after the museum's 50th anniversary in 2019, I am certain people will travel far and wide to see what the University of Iowa has to offer them,” he said. 'The UIMA has a great future.”

Before arriving on the UI campus, O'Harrow acquired some experience with the UI collection as portions of it - after the flood - were relocated to Figge in Davenport, where he was executive director. At that time, the UI museum's annual visitor numbers averaged about 40,000 - meaning he's overseen a more than 500 percent increase in participation.

O'Harrow also helped fundraise for the facility - pushing the museum to be the first unit on campus to reach and exceed its goal in the 'For Iowa, Forever More” fundraising campaign, bringing in more than $13 million - over 2.5 times the $5 million target.

O'Harrow organized the Pollock showing at the Getty, which the Wall Street Journal praised as one of the world's five 'most talked about exhibits of the year.” The painting eventually was included in an international touring exhibition that visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy, the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle in Berlin, Germany, and the Museo Picasso in Malaga, Spain.

Nearly half a million people visited the European shows.

And, during O'Harrow's directorship, the UI art museum acquired other significant works - like the James and Elizabeth Leach collection of American and German art. He served as chair of the Art in State Buildings Committee, through which he helped the university acquire works by Dale Chihuly, Richard Hunt, El Anatsui, and Charles Ray.

He managed to increase statewide participation by launching the 'Integrated Outreach With Art” program, partnering with art institutions and communities across the state - namely Sioux City, Mason City, Des Moines, Dubuque, Cedar Falls, Davenport, and Cedar Rapids.

UI Provost Barry Butler and the institution is 'immensely grateful to Dr. O'Harrow for his hard work and significant contribution to the life of the museum and the university.”