Douglas Hyland, who has led the New Britain Museum of American Art for 15 years, will retire from his position as director next September, after the museum’s new expansion is completed and the re-installation is unveiled.
“It’ll be good to finish things on a high note,” said Hyland, who turned 65 last week. “It’s been the job of a lifetime, a great pleasure to work here. All my goals have been realized.”
Hyland, in a phone interview, said he and his wife Alice “Tita” Hyland, who teaches Asian art at Trinity College, want to travel more, to visit their three children and four grandchildren in San Francisco, Wilmington, Del., and New Orleans. Hyland also is considering teaching. His doctorate is in American art.
He said he and Tita, who live in West Hartford, also hope to visit Nepal and spend some time in Paris. “All these wonderful fantasies are entering my head,” he said.
Hyland announced his decision at a meeting of the Board of Trustees and at the annual meeting of the membership, both on Wednesday.
Hyland, a native of Salem, Mass., became the NBMAA’s fifth director in October 1999. His previous directorships were at the San Antonio (Texas) Museum of Art, the Birmingham (Alabama) Museum of Art and the Memphis (Tennessee) Brooks Museum of Art.
According to a museum press release, during Hyland’s tenure, the museum’s holdings more than tripled to more than 14,000 items, the number of docents increased from 35 to 117, memberships rose from 1,500 to 3,800, staff from 19 to 46, and the endowment from $9 million to $21 million. Visitors, from 48 states, have totaled 96,000 so far this year.
NBMAA Chairman Todd Stitzer will lead a search to find Hyland’s successor. In a statement, Stitzer said, “Douglas Hyland’s impact on the New Britain Museum of American Art and, indeed, on the arts in Connecticut has been immense and impressive. Douglas has put New Britain on the map from an art perspective by attracting major exhibits and collections, creating hundreds of programs and events, and attracting thousands of visitors, including several thousand school children to the Museum’s educational programs. We will miss his energy, his intellect and his excellent taste and wish him well on his retirement.”
In 2006, the museum added a $27 million, 43,000 square foot expansion. The new $22 million expansion will add a three-story, 17,346 square feet addition, with seven new galleries, three new art studios, a reinstallation of the permanent collection, increased parking facilities and further endowment growth. It is set to be completed in August and the re-installation unveiled in September.
