Art museum names new executive director

Lolita Harper

Orange County Museum of Art officials ended their exhaustive hunt

for a new executive director Monday.

Dennis Szakacs, now the deputy director of the New Museum of

Contemporary Art in New York, will replace Naomi Vine, who died of

cancer a little more than a year ago. In his current gig, Szakacs

heads program development, the planning of a new building and museum

management, officials said.

He will begin at the Orange County Museum of the Arts in April.

Szakacs was in New York on Monday and was unavailable for a

telephone interview.

In a prepared statement from museum officials, Szakacs said he was

“thrilled and honored” to assume the leadership position at a time

when the county is emerging as a cultural center.

“Orange County is really coming into its own, with a progressive

cultural scene that’s developing independent of traditional

structures and definitions, and against the grain of preconceptions

about the region,” Szakacs said in the statement.

He also expressed a ready willingness to follow Vine’s successful

lead and build upon the venue’s international reputation while

“reaching deeper into Orange County’s diverse community.”

Vine, who was admired as an arts professional who helped form the

museum, died Dec. 27, 2001, after a battle with cancer. She was 52.

The yearlong search for a new director drew upon the talents of

many dedicated people, said Darrel Anderson, chairman of the museum’s

board of directors. Anderson said he was grateful for the museum’s

commitment to finding the best in the midst of such trying times.

“And, as it will soon be clear, it was well worth the effort,” he

said.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.