UI chooses Figge director to head art museum

IOWA CITY -- Getting a new building to house the University of Iowa Museum of Art is "priority one, two and three" for newly-named museum Director Sean O'Harrow.

O'Harrow, 42, was named Monday as the new director of the UI Museum of Art. He will start Nov. 15 at a salary of $190,000.

A native of Hawaii and a graduate of Harvard and Cambridge universities, O'Harrow has been executive director of the Figge Art Museum in Davenport since 2007. The UI Museum of Art and the Figge have had a close relationship in recent months, with much of the UI collection on display or stored at the Figge since the 2008 flood damaged the former UI museum location.

"I think the collection is really one of the best collections in the United States and should be known as such," O'Harrow said of the UI museum. "That's the opportunity that we have -- to be able to promote the university and its collection and the state and the community to a wider audience."

As museum director, O'Harrow will oversee management and care of the UI Museum of Art collections, and curatorial, educational and administrative activities. He will play a leading role in planning and fundraising for a new museum location, UI officials said. The former site was damaged in the 2008 flood, and UI officials have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reconsider a decision not to fund the construction of a new museum at a different location.

Those discussions with FEMA will continue, O'Harrow said, and museum leaders also must be ready to start fundraising tens of millions of dollars to fund a new home for the 12,000-piece collection.

"I'm confident that we can make that happen because ... the museum is so important and the mission if so significant," he said.

There have been past discussions about the idea of selling Jackson Pollock's "Mural," arguably the most famous piece in the UI collection, insured at $140 million. O'Harrow called that idea ludicrous.

"It's like selling your grandmother. I don't think you can sell your culture," he said. "Doing such a thing would only give ammunition to those people who criticize our state as a place where we don't respect or appreciate culture. There is no way that can happen."

O'Harrow earned his doctorate in history of art from the University of Cambridge in 1997, and his bachelor's in history of art from Harvard in 1990.

The Figge recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, and under O'Harrow's leadership the museum saw increases in attendance, donations and revenue, officials there said in a statement. This year the Figge saw record attendance of more than 69,000 people.

“This move is good for both museums and for our region,” Andrew J. Butler, Figge board of trustees president, said in a statement.

Former UI President Willard "Sandy" Boyd will continue to serve as interim director of the UI Museum of Art until O'Harrow begins work in Iowa City.