PORTLAND, ME.- Daniel E. O’Leary, director of the Winslow Homer Studio Project and former director of the Portland Museum of Art, has accepted the position of president of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (MWPAI). Located in Utica, New York, the WMPAI is a regional fine arts center serving diverse audiences through three program divisions: Museum of Art, Performing Arts, and School of Art.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Dan O’Leary,” said Portland Museum of Art Board President Hans Underdahl. “His skilled leadership at the Portland Museum of Art has prepared him well to take on this new role at this prestigious institution.”

As Director of the Portland Museum of Art’s Winslow Homer Studio Project, Dr. O’Leary has raised $5 million towards the $8.3 million goal. He was instrumental in the purchase of the Studio, which took place in January 2006. Dr. O’Leary was hired as director of the Portland Museum of Art in 1993. Under his direction, the Museum’s budget grew from $1.8 million to $4.6 million, and the Museum’s endowment grew from $3.4 million to $33 million. Museum membership increased from 3,000 to nearly 8,000, and the Museum experienced an unbroken record of 14 years of annual budget surpluses. Also during that time, the Museum’s attendance increased from 90,000 visitors to 150,000 visitors annually, with a peak of 188,000 in 2000. Under his direction, the Century III Campaign raised $13.5 million to restore and reopen the Museum’s McLellan House (1801) and L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries (1911), both of which had been closed for more than a decade. Dr. O’Leary curated many exhibitions at the Museum and most recently assisted in the development of the popular exhibition Bright Common Spikes: The Sculpture of John Bisbee (2008).

Dr. O’Leary came to Portland from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where he served as assistant director for five years. Prior to his position in Minneapolis, he was executive director of Artrain, a national arts organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan, Dr. O’Leary holds a Doctorate in Art History as well as an M.B.A. in Marketing and Management.