The El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA), a collecting institution and accredited art museum in downtown El Paso, has announced it will welcome Edward Hayes, Jr. as its new director. He will assume this new post on June 20.
Edward Hayes, Jr., the new Director of the El Paso Museum of Art
Hayes comes to the EPMA from the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, where he was the Exhibitions Senior Manager. Prior to that, he worked as the Director of the Traveling Exhibitions Service for International Arts & Artists, a Washington D.C. nonprofit dedicated to cross-cultural arts experiences. In that position, he managed a program that consisted of over 25 touring exhibitions each year. Exhibitions he launched include Cultural Encounters: Art of the Asian Diasporas in Latin America & The Caribbean and Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936 – Present.
In a press release, the City of El Paso’s Deputy City Manager, Dionne Mack, said “in his new leadership role, [Hayes] will provide strategic vision, artistic direction, and executive and administrative leadership for the EPMA to build on its rich legacy, collections, and unique strengths — further advancing its excellence and impact in the region and world.”
Hayes is originally from San Diego, but grew up in San Antonio. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2006), and a Master of Arts in Art History from The University of Texas at San Antonio (2010). He has also lived in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Quito, Ecuador. His mother is from Mexico, and he is bilingual. As Jessica Fuentes recently outlined in an op-ed for Glasstire, El Paso is the most bilingual city in the U.S., and, accordingly, the EPMA publishes exhibition text and other materials in both Spanish and English.
In museum’s press release, Mack said Hayes was hired “after an extensive nationwide search for the best candidate to lead the El Paso Museum of Art.” The city, she said, was “tremendously excited” to have him in the role.
For more information on the El Paso Museum of Art, visit their website.
2 comments
I’m thrilled for you, Ed, but hate losing you to El Paso!!
Good luck! We spend the summers in Ruidoso so perhaps we visit you at the museum, or if you want some cool air, come visit us in Ruidoso!!
Welcome to El Paso Mr. HAYES, We needed a director with your Cultural background, experience and understanding of our unique city and diversity in Cultures.