Longtime St. Louis Art Museum director Brent R. Benjamin, 61, announced Monday that he will step down next summer.
He took the helm at the Forest Park landmark in 1999.
鈥淚n the past 24 hours I鈥檝e heard so many comments from so many people around the community, each one highlighting a different achievement of Brent Benjamin,鈥� said Charles Lowenhaupt, president of the museum鈥檚 board of commissioners. 鈥淗e has enough to give every member of the community something separate to point to.鈥�
During his tenure Benjamin led a $160 million capital campaign, at the time the largest ever for a St. Louis arts organization. It paid for construction of a parking garage and the museum鈥檚 new East Building, which opened in 2013 and added more than 80,000 square feet of additional space. The museum paid off the remainder of its debt for that project in 2019, 21 years ahead of schedule.
Two exhibitions under Benjamin鈥檚 leadership rank among the institution鈥檚 best-attended shows: 鈥淰incent van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard鈥� in 2001 and 鈥淪unken Cities: Egypt鈥檚 Lost World鈥� in 2018.
Key artwork acquisitions include Elizabeth Catlett鈥檚 sculpture 鈥�,鈥� Horace Pippin鈥檚 painting 鈥溾�� and a collection of 81 works by African American artists in 2017 by collectors Ronald and Monique Ollie.
鈥淚 want to express my gratitude,鈥� Benjamin said in a statement, 鈥渢o the St. Louis community for embracing me from the start; to our donors and members for continually stepping up to provide the support required to advance and sustain our museum as an enduring treasure; to our boards for providing a consistent strength of governance; and especially to our staff, who made possible all of our achievements over these past two decades.鈥�
Museum leaders aim to have a new director in place when Benjamin departs.
The organization will begin a series of listening sessions with museum stakeholders, including patrons and local government officials, before formally posting the job opening later this year or in early 2021.
Benjamin鈥檚 $590,000 base salary makes him the best-paid leader of a St. Louis cultural institution. Since 2015, his salary has been funded by a separate endowment seeded by Barbara and Andy Taylor鈥檚 $21 million gift.
SLAM is part of the city鈥檚 Zoo-Museum District and is funded in part by tax dollars. Its $33 million annual operating budget 鈥� because of losses related to the coronavirus pandemic 鈥� places it among the region鈥檚 best-funded and highest-profile cultural institutions. Tax dollars provide $23.5 million of the museum鈥檚 budget this year.
The museum has about 250 employees, including part-time workers, and has not made any staff reductions during the pandemic.
Benjamin has also been a leader among museum professionals locally and nationally as president of the American Association of Art Museum Directors.
"I have leaned on him for collegial questions 鈥� I have asked him about everything, even HVAC systems 鈥� and he is extremely generous with his help and time,鈥� said Lisa Melandri, executive director of Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. 鈥淚t is fun to have him as a colleague, and since he became head of the AAMD it is wonderful to have someone who is close to that part of national leadership. His generosity has been so important, and I am really appreciative.鈥�
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