Museum of Arts and Design Director Resigns

Holly Hotchner, director of New York's Museum of Arts and Design for 16 years, will resign effective Apr. 30. David Gordon, formerly director of the Milwaukee Art Museum and Secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, will serve as acting director.

When Hotchner took over in 1997, the museum was called the American Craft Museum. Reflecting an aim to integrate what were thought of as crafts into the art mainstream, the name was changed in 2002 to the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD).

Hotchner oversaw the creation of the museum's new home in 2008 at 2 Columbus Circle, designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture. The $110-million project transformed what had been dubbed "the lollipop building" by Ada Louise Huxtable, more than tripling its exhibition space. Hotchner also established an education program at the museum.