| Cydney Payton To Leave MCA |
| Written by Ken Hamel | |
| Tuesday, 15 July 2008 | |
 MCA Denver Executive Director Cydney Payton with David Adjaye - Photo by Dean Kaufman Michael Paglia's Westword article: Cydney Payton Leaves MCA/Denver Marc Shulgold's RMN article: Museum of Contemporary Art director to step aside Kyle MacMillan's Denver Post article: Museum director stepping out of the picture Cydney Payton To Step Down As Executive Director and Chief Curator of MCA DENVER Following Seven Successful Years of Service: Transition to Take Place In October 2008. July 15, 2008 - MCA DENVER announces the resignation of its visionary Executive Director / Chief Curator, Cydney Payton, who will leave the museum at the end of October 2008. Cydney Payton led MCA DENVER from a modest institution with an exhibition space in a former fish market with an annual budget of $360,000 to a recently completed, environmentally sustainable, permanent home designed by David Adjaye. Today MCA DENVER's annual operating budget exceeds $2.8 million. While an international search for MCA DENVER's next Executive Director / Chief Curator is underway, Payton will continue to guide MCA DENVER through the transition, including curating key future programs. Cydney Payton began her tenure at MCA DENVER in January of 2001. Since that time, Payton led the museum through a nearly complete $16.5 million building campaign, the realization of its new permanent home designed by Adjaye, while also acting as Chief Curator. Through her visionary curatorial program, Payton has presented artists from around the world early in their careers, many of whom have gone on to international recognition. At MCA DENVER, Payton has presented the U.S. museum premieres for: Trevor Appleson, Yu-Cheng Chou, Jasper de Beijer, Adam Helms, Rangi Kipa, Susanne Kuhn, and Collier Schorr. Artists presented early at MCA DENVER include: David Altmejd, Carlos Amorales, Candice Breitz, Sergio Prego, and Wang Qingsong, to name just a few. Mark Falcone, President of MCA DENVER's Board of Trustees, comments: "Under Cydney's leadership, MCA DENVER has experienced incredible growth as evidenced by the Museum's award winning new building, our highly successful capital campaign, and 34,500 visitors since the inauguration. "The realization of this building has been the result years of hard work by Cydney and other key supporters of this institution. The Museum is extremely proud of Cydney's accomplishments. On behalf of MCA DENVER, our members, and the citizens of the Denver, I honor and thank Cydney for her enormous contributions to this institution and our community. We will miss Cydney and are grateful to her for her support through this transition. As we look to the future, we are certain we will identify another talented leader who can continue and expand upon Cydney's many successes." Karl Kister, MCA DENVER's Board of Trustees President from 2004 to April 2008 states: "Working with Cydney, particularly as the President during the building process, has been incredibly gratifying. Cydney championed the goals we set out to achieve, and she truly embraced the consideration of the building's impact on our environment. It's been a privilege to be a part of MCA DENVER during Cydney's tenure, watching the institution transform itself into the world-class creative engine that it's proving to be. "The community owes much to her vision and commitment. I'm looking forward to the inevitable success in the next chapter of Cydney's career and the inspiration that others will draw from it." Cydney Payton states: "My dream to build a lasting and beautiful home for contemporary art in Colorado began many years prior to my role at MCA DENVER, but the trustees and supporters of MCA DENVER allowed that vision to come to fruition. I am grateful to have had the support in realizing this dream of many individuals but in particular: MCA DENVER Founder Sue Cannon; Karl Kister; MCA DENVER's trustees and donors; the exemplary Foundations that provided generous support; our dedicated staff; our members; and, above all, the artists who have created and presented risk-taking works at MCA DENVER. It is all of their generosity that is embedded in the poetic building that David Adjaye designed as a permanent home for contemporary art in Denver. The openness of the West has provided an ideal forum for the artists we have presented at MCA DENVER to work experimentally and on the cutting-edge. It is the question of what art is that is essential. It is a query for the senses, a desire to describe the indescribable nature of being. In that way, the daringness to make art seems more profound and necessary than ever, and MCA DENVER provides a lasting home for this discourse. I am proud to have created a legacy for contemporary artists in Colorado." Payton continues: "With the museum's environmentally sustainable building now open, having achieved record attendance, as well as critical acclaim for both the building and the exhibitions, I look forward to exploring possibilities for the next decade of my career. I'm confident that the trustees under the leadership of new board president; Mark Falcone, are poised to build on all that we have accomplished." |
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