Hasta La Ideas

The embattled American Folk Art Museum will continue working to right itself under the direction of newly appointed director Anne-Imelda Radice (pictured), the New York institution’s board of trustees announced this week. Radice, who holds a doctorate in art and architectural history (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) as well as an MBA (American University), recently served as the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent U.S. federal agency that supports museums and libraries of all types. Her experience also includes posts at the Humanities Endowment, the United States Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“Having served as both a director and a curator, I have long been impressed with American Folk Art Museum’s collection and its presentation,” said Radice in a statement issued by the museum. “The work the Board and staff have done to re-chart the Museum’s course has been gutsy and inspiring, and I am honored to join and have the responsibility of leading their team.” Radice replaces Maria Ann Conelli, who stepped down last year shortly after the museum sold its Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects-designed building to the Museum of Modern Art for $31.2 million. Devoted to “the aesthetic appreciation of traditional folk art and creative expressions of contemporary self-taught artists from the United States and abroad,” the museum moved to its current Lincoln Square location in July 2011.

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