Following a national search led by board chair-elect Meg Salyer, Dr. Michael Anderson has been named President & CEO at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Anderson, previously director of curatorial affairs, has been interim president & CEO of OKCMOA since July 2019.
“I would like to thank Michael, the OKCMOA leadership team and the Museum staff for running the Museum smoothly and efficiently during this time of transition,” said Cynda Ottaway, OKCMOA board chair. “I also appreciate the many hours of time that our board members volunteered to assist in the search process, especially Meg and her efforts in the national search. I am confident in Michael’s abilities to lead us through our upcoming year that includes the celebration of the Museum’s 75th anniversary in May and into the future.”
Anderson said, “I am honored to serve as the next leader of this historic institution. I am looking forward to building on the Museum’s many years of service to the community. Our 75th anniversary in May will kick off a year of exciting announcements and events. I sincerely appreciate all the hard work the Museum staff has put in to this year’s programs and exhibitions and am thrilled to lead the Museum at such a monumental time in its history.”
During his tenure at the Museum, Anderson has continued to develop the Museum Film program, bringing the best in independent, foreign language and classic cinema to the Oklahoma City community. He has curated and managed numerous exhibitions including “Our City, Our Collection,” “Matisse in His Time” and “Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness.”
He has led efforts to imaginatively re-interpret OKCMOA’s permanent collection, culminating in last year’s reinstallation of the permanent collection titled “From the Golden Age to the Moving Image: The Changing Face of the Permanent Collection.” Anderson has also been involved heavily in building the Museum’s permanent collection, helping to bring artists such as Kehinde Wiley, Thomas Cole and Fletcher Benton into the collection.
Anderson earned his doctorate in History of Art and Film Studies at Yale University in 2013. Before attending Yale, Anderson earned a master’s degree in Cinema Studies from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Hillsdale College in Michigan. Anderson has been with the Museum since 2014.
