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September 02, 2006
Mitzi Lizárraga, Director of Development Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA — 7-21-06
The mission of the Museum of Photographic Arts, located in San Diego, CA, is to inspire, educate and engage the broadest possible audience through the presentation, collection, and preservation of photography, film and video. MoPA officially opened its doors on May 1, 1983 as one of the few museum facilities in the United States designed exclusively to collect and present the world's finest examples of photographic art. The appointment of nationally renowned curator/photographer Arthur Ollman as Executive Director brought visionary leadership and instant credibility to the nascent museum.
MoPA’s permanent collection currently includes more than 7000 photographs that span the history of photography. The museum's permanent collection was richly enhanced in 1992 with a bequest from the estate of the late photographer and Academy Award–winning filmmaker Lou Stoumen. In July 2002, the collection was again enhanced with the gift of the entire Nagasaki Journey: The Photographs of Yosuke Yamahata, August 10, 1945 archive. MoPA has produced 15 exhibitions that have traveled to museums around the globe and has published 16 exhibition catalogues.
After a one-year renovation and expansion project that quadrupled the museum's size, MoPA reopened March 4, 2000. The expansion included additional galleries, a classroom, print-viewing room, and a 20,000-volume library, as well as augmented archival facilities and support areas. In addition, the expansion includes a 226-seat state-of-the-art theater that fulfills the museum's mandate of presenting the arts of photography, video and film. In April 2006, founding Director Ollman retired from his position at the museum. In June, Deborah Klochko was appointed Executive Director.
Mitzi Lizárraga, Director of Development, joined MoPA in February 2006. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Lizárraga was the principal and CEO of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, an arts-focused school in partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The George Washington University, and The District of Columbia Public Schools in Washington, D.C. In 2003, Ms. Lizárraga was a Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar to Japan.
Posted by David Lemberg at September 2, 2006 02:06 PM Return to ARTSCAPE home page