On Tuesday, Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs Jen Scanlon informed the Bowdoin community in an email that Anne and Frank Goodyear, co-directors of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA), will be stepping down from their positions in June. Over the past 13 years, the Goodyears have led the BCMA and fostered its growth both as a key academic and public resource.

“Since joining the team at the BCMA in 2013, we have enjoyed the opportunity to work with wonderful colleagues and the museum’s many friends and supporters,” Anne Goodyear wrote in an email to the Orient. “We will always value the time we have had here at Bowdoin.”

In her all-campus email, Scanlon highlighted how the Goodyears were able to prioritize both the BCMA’s position as a resource to the College as well as a prominent public museum in midcoast Maine. This work included initiating a student-led art acquisition program, fostering a robust student internship program, developing opportunities for faculty and student-led exhibitions and expanding class visits to the BCMA. These initiatives were paired with public programming such as the “Music at the Museum” series, which brings artists, musicians and scholars to the College.

“All of these initiatives underscore that our art museum serves a vital role in the fabric of our campus community,” Scanlon wrote.

The Goodyears came to the College in 2013 after working as curators for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Before their arrival at the BCMA, they created a strategic five-year plan to promote student and staff engagement while also experimenting with new offerings and exhibitions.

“Coming here to Bowdoin, what excites me is thinking anew about what a teaching museum might be in the 21st century and trying to make it as open and as accessible as possible,” Frank Goodyear said in a 2013 Orient article. “I think it’s also important to think about how we speak to audiences in midcoast Maine, and throughout New England and throughout the world.”

Their leadership resulted in a dynamic exhibition schedule, featuring partnerships with scholars from within and outside of the Bowdoin community.

“They have collaborated with leading academic and commercial publishers, and under their leadership they and the museum have been awarded prestigious honors and major grants from national arts agencies, foundations and corporations,” Scanlon wrote.

In addition to this work, the Goodyears also helped acquire more than 5,000 new artworks for the BCMA and helped establish the New Media Arts Consortium, a project to purchase and share digital works with other academic museums across New England.

“We have treasured the opportunity to exhibit and expand superb collections and to nurture the development of innovative projects for the community at Bowdoin and beyond,” Anne Goodyear wrote. “We are grateful for the emphasis the College places on scholarship, and we have enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with students, faculty and the BCMA team on exhibitions, publications and programs featuring new insights into the visual arts.”

Professor of Art History Stephen Perkinson will be assisting the BCMA’s staff with day-to-day operations while the Goodyears assist with the transition period until they officially leave the College on June 30.