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IMA appoints new Curator of Design Arts

I have been wondering what was going to happen with design at the IMA since I heard rumor about hiring a new design curator, so I was plesed to hear the newest appointment at the IMA, R. Craig Miller. Read part of the IMA's press release below for further details. The question for me, where will these exhibits be displayed?

IMA Press Release:

The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today that it has appointed R. Craig Miller to the newly-created position of Curator of Design Arts. Miller, formerly Curator of the Department of Architecture, Design & Graphics at the Denver Art Museum, will take the lead in the development of a new IMA department dedicated to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of 20th and 21st-century European and American design in October 2007.

In his new role at the IMA, Miller will build the Museum’s Design Collection, and will develop a series of exhibitions to highlight new design initiatives at the IMA. Miller is currently organizing EuroDesign 1985–2005, an international exhibition which will examine two decades of design from fourteen countries across Western Europe. The exhibition will premiere at the IMA in 2009. Miller will also take on the role of Director of Design Initiatives, working with the IMA to incorporate design into its institutional programming.

“Craig Miller is renowned for his ability to build exceptional collections from scratch,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, the Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA. “In his 17 years at Denver and 12 years at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Craig built deeply significant design collections. We are thrilled to bring his talents to Indianapolis, and to have Craig oversee our design initiatives and help us in building a compelling and fully-rounded department of 20th-21st Century Design.”

The new Design Department initiative will center on collecting, preserving, and interpreting European and American design, with the possibility of later expanding programming to include the design innovations of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. The creation of the Design Department is part of an institutional restructuring at the Museum, which also included the merging of the IMA Decorative Arts department into its European and American Art departments. The Museum has also retained Bruce Mau Design, which has recently opened a studio in Chicago, to assist in mapping a plan for integrating design and education initiatives into its overall visitor experience.

“Craig Miller forged one of the definitive collections of 20th-century design during his tenure at the Denver Art Museum,” said Denver Art Museum Director Lewis Sharp. “He will be a wonderful asset to the Indianapolis Museum of Art as they begin to develop their design collections, and we look forward to his continued scholarship in the field.”

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