The Detroit Institute of Arts has named insider Salvador Salort-Pons as its new director.
Salort-Pons has headed up the museum's European Art Department since 2011 and has served as director of collection strategies and information since 2013.
In his new role as DIA director, Salort-Pons said he wants to get out into Detroit and its surrounding communities as much as possible.
"I'd like to tell [community members] how important their support is, because they are supporting an institution that is extraordinary," Salort-Pons said. "They should be very proud of it."
DIA board chair Gene Gargaro said the board voted unanimously to appoint Salort-Pons following a nine-month international search.
"The fact that we have in our own museum, a person of Salvador's stature, experience and skill was remarkable in itself. It says a lot about the depth of the talent at the DIA," Gargaro said.
The new director is a Madrid native who previously served as senior curator at the Meadows Museum in Dallas and as exhibition curator at the Memmo Foundation/Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome.
Former DIA director Graham Beal stepped down after a 16-year tenure last June. Salort-Pons said he plans to build on Beal's visitor-centric vision for the museum.
"Coming to Detroit and understanding how can we share our knowledge with our visitors and engage them in a different way has improved me as a curator and also as a person," Salort-Pons said.
Salort-Pons is set to take office October 15th.
