Recently Completed Searches

We are happy to announce the completion of the following searches. Please join us in congratulating the new hires and their organizations:

Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Director & CEO
Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Anne Kraybill arrives in August, 2018 as the new Director and CEO of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. She succeeds Judith Hansen O’Toole, who is retiring after 25 years in the position. Anne will be just the third director in the museum’s history.

Anne comes to the Westmoreland from an eight-year tenure at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. There she was promoted through several positions to become Director of Education and Research in Learning and a member of the leadership team. Anne has a master’s degree in museum education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and was a graduate assistant at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum
Executive Director
Auburn, Indiana

Brandon Anderson began his duties recently as the fifth executive director in the 44-year history of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. Brandon has been deputy executive director for 5-1/2 years at The History Museum in his native South Bend, Indiana.

Brandon studied historic preservation and architectural history at the Savannah College of Art in Georgia. He went on to earn his master’s degree in museum studies from the University of Oklahoma. His previous positions were at Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina, that state’s first capitol building, and at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida.

Columbia Museum of Art
Executive Director
Columbia, South Carolina

The Columbia Museum of Art (CMA) Board of Trustees has appointed Della Watkins as the next Executive Director, beginning Oct. 1, 2017. Della arrives at CMA from her position as Director of the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia. Previously, Della held successively more responsible positions in museum education over 16 years at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“One of Della’s greatest strengths is her engagement in the community,” said CMA Search Committee Chair Earl Ellis. “The Columbia Museum of Art is a community asset, and we were seeking a proven leader who had demonstrated strengths in community engagement.”
Opportunity Resources is pleased to bring Della to CMA to succeed Karen Brosius, whom we placed 12 years ago and whose tenure was marked by the transformation of CMA into an award-winning, vibrant institution and a jewel in the cultural life of Columbia and the State of South Carolina.

Corning Museum of Glass
Curator of European Glass
Corning, New York

The search for Curator of European Glass at Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York has been completed with the arrival of Dr. Christopher Maxwell in October, 2016. Christopher has extensive experience with the Royal Collection in the UK and the reinterpretation of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s ceramics galleries, with a particular focus on French porcelain. Christopher’s  PhD is from the University of Glasgow.

Currier Museum of Art
President & CEO
Manchester, New Hampshire

Alan Chong arrives as the new Director and CEO of the Currier Museum of Art in September, 2016. Alan succeeds Susan Strickler, also an ORI placement, who retired after a remarkable 20-year tenure.

Alan comes to the Currier after 6 years as Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum in Singapore. Previously, Alan was the Lia and William Poorvu Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum. Raised in Hawaii, Chong earned a doctorate in art history from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History of Art from Yale University. His areas of specialization include cross-cultural art and 17th-century Dutch art.