Polednik Leaving Milwaukee Art Museum

Marcelle Polednik. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Milwaukee Art Museum director Marcelle Polednik is stepping down.

Polednik, who has led the museum since 2016, will leave the position July 31. The museum announced Wednesday morning that is has begun an international search for a new director.

Polednik, who has a PhD in Art History from New York University, came to Milwaukee from her role as the director and chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. She also had prior experience as the chief curator of the Monterey Museum of Art and as an Assistant Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

“Leading the Milwaukee Art Museum has been an extraordinary honor, but I believe the time has come for new leadership to guide its next chapter,” Polednik said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve built over the past nine years, and confident that the Museum is on a strong path forward—artistically, operationally and financially.”

Polednik did not indicate if she is taking a job or position elsewhere.

Polednik succeeded Dan Keegan, who retired in 2016 after overseeing a period of expansion and investment at the museum, which included a $34 million addition. She is the first Donna and Donald Baumgartner director, a position created following an $8 million gift from the Baumgartners to support the directors position.

At the time of her hiring, Polednik was championed by the museum for her extensive curatorial experience and a track record in Jacksonville that included expanding the institution’s philanthropic base. She’s credited with doing the same at MAM, building the museum’s endowment and expanding the donor base to a national level.

“Marcelle has driven a number of noteworthy accomplishments over her tenure, including navigating the challenges of the global pandemic, focusing our strategic agenda, and helping to prepare us for the next decade of artistic growth and innovation for our landmark institution,” said Jeffery Yabuki, Chair of the Milwaukee Art Museum Board of Trustees. “We are grateful to Marcelle for her leadership as we turn to building this next chapter of success for the Museum.”

The museum’s long running financial struggles continued under Polednik, for which the expensive Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion, built in the early 2000s, is partly to blame.

On top of the museum’s long-running financial difficulties, Polednik has been at the center of a few controversies during her time as director. Notably, executive compensation at the museum has skyrocketed under Polednik.

In February, Urban Milwaukee reported that the art museum director’s salary has more than tripled since she Polednik became director. Her pay ballooned at the same time the museum struggled financially, attendance dropped, admission prices went up and the museum workforce was cut. The museum also created a deputy director position under Polednik, paying approximately $240,000 in 2023, according to the most recent tax filings.

Under Polednik, the museum purchased O’Donnell Park complex from Milwaukee County in 2017. Sometime during the last few years, the museum changed the name to Museum Center Park, erasing the reference to William O’Donnell, the former long-serving Milwaukee County Executive known for reshaping county government in the 1970s and 1980s, but the museum declined to discuss why it made the change.

MAM also has also demanded that the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum leave its space at the newly named Museum Center Park complex. Betty Brinn’s leadership told Urban Milwaukee its lease runs until 2028 and it hoped to extend it as they looked for a new home for the institution. The art museum, however, declined to discuss this and denied that it wants the Betty Brinn museum to leave.

The museum has contracted with Russell Reynolds Associates, an executive search firm, as it searches  for Polednik’s successor. The search committee is being led by board vice-president and chair-elect Andy Nunemaker.