It was announced last week that Anne Kraybill, director of the Wichita Art Museum will be leaving just 16 months after taking the job. Kraybill has accepted a position as CEO of The Art Bridges Foundation in Bentonville, Arkansas.
During her time at WAM Kraybill had some nice achievements, like free general admission to all visitors, all year long.
But in a move considered controversial by many last May, Kraybill and the WAM Board of Trustees sold a large Henry Moore sculpture from the collection for 10.5 million dollars. Only after the sale was made public, it was stated that the money would be used to purchase new works which would help diversify the collection—which is a good thing. Indeed, a large Kehinde Wiley painting was purchased, but there is much left to be done with the remaining funds.
And just weeks ago there was mention of moving WAM to the old Wichita Library location downtown. Much was stirred up during Kraybill’s short tenure that is now in limbo.
I do not fault anyone for bettering themselves and reaching for a bigger brass ring, but this short tenure leaves a good staff and board members at WAM behind a big 8 ball. A similar situation occurred at the Ulrich Museum when the previous director, Leslie Brothers, left after a short, 4-year stint.
Moves like these make the Wichita art community wonder just how dedicated potential art directors are about becoming actual members of our community and digging in to meet community needs.
One thing is certain, we need to remove the revolving doors on our local art institutions. The WAM board, along with top donors to the institution need to take their time in choosing a new director.
And wouldn’t it be a dream if we could find someone from Wichita to fill this position?
