Sharon F. Patton, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art since 2003, resigned from her post today, joining the growing number of officials leaving the troubled institution in recent months.
Her departure follows the resignations of Ned Rifkin, undersecretary for art, in March and Pilar O’Leary, head of the Smithsonian Latino Center, in February. Mrs. O’Leary stepped down after an investigation found she abused her expense account to fund lavish trips.
In March, the Smithsonian’s board of regents elected G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, as its new secretary to succeed Lawrence Small, who resigned last year amid an inquiry into his extravagant spending.
Reached by telephone, Ms. Patton, 64, said her departure allows Mr. Clough “to pursue his vision in creating a new team.”
“I’ve achieved much of what I wanted to do and now seems to be the right time to leave,” she said.
Ms. Patton, the fourth director of the National Museum of African Art, plans “to stay active in the field of African art” and pursue projects involving the influence of African art on cultures in South America and other parts of the world. She will stay on until the end of the year or “possibly a month longer for transition” to oversee the museum’s holdings of more than 9,000 African art objects. Under her leadership, the Smithsonian acquired the Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection of more than 500 objects in 2005. It remains on exhibit at the museum through March 2009.
During her tenure, Ms. Patton established several new programs at the Smithsonian museum. They include the “Treasures” exhibitions, combining loans from prominent African art collectors and pieces from the museum’s holdings; children-oriented shows; displays of contemporary African art and the museum’s first traveling exhibition.
“Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art,” opened a year ago and traveled to the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Before joining the Smithsonian, Ms. Patton was director of Oberlin College’s Allen Memorial Art Museum in Ohio. She served as chief curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem from 1988 to 1991.
“In her five years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, Sharon brought both scholarship and a special graciousness to her work and she has pointed the way toward the museum’s future,” said Richard Kurin, Acting Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture.
According to a spokeswoman, the Smithsonian will begin a national search for a new director in a few weeks.
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