Director of Miami Beach’s Wolfsonian-FIU stepping down to lead Phoenix Art Museum
The director of Miami Beach’s Wolfsonian-FIU Museum is stepping down to run the Phoenix Art Museum.
Tim Rodgers, who has directed the museum since 2015, announced his decision to members of the museum’s Director’s Circle supporters Friday in a letter.
“My connections to the Southwest run deep — my immediate family is Phoenix-based, I’m an ASU alum, and my career has repeatedly orbited around Arizona and New Mexico. For me and for my husband, Jeff, this is a story of returning home,” he wrote.
Wolfsonian Deputy Director Casey Steadman will become acting director as of July 1, he wrote.
In a memo to the FIU community, provost Kenneth G. Furton lauded Rodger’s contributions.
“We are extremely grateful to Tim for his stewardship of the museum, its collection, and its world-renowned programming on Miami Beach. Under his leadership, the institution launched a groundbreaking new Public Humanities Lab, secured substantial donations and grants, and continued to strengthen its commitments to research, education, and the humanities.”
The Wolfsonian grew out of the passion of Mitchell Wolfson Jr., a former diplomat and one of Miami’s most unconventional and creative spirits. After his family sold its giant movie theater and entertainment firm, Wometco, in 1983, Wolfson threw his energy into collecting decorative and propaganda arts, concentrating on the period from 1885 through 1945.
After the collection outgrew his personal space, warehouse and a castle he purchased in Italy, Wolfson bought the warehouse that he largely occupied at 1001 Washington Ave. and expanded it as a museum. He donated it to Florida International University in 1997. The museum now stages ongoing exhibitions open to the public and operates as a center for scholarship.
