MONTCLAIR, NJ.- The Board of Trustees of the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) has announced that Patterson Sims will end his service as Director of the Museum in September 2008 when his contract concludes. Sims started at the Museum in September 2001 and had planned to leave at the end of his seven-year contracted period of employment. “Patterson Sims has been a truly outstanding director,” said Board President, Reg Hollinger. “This is a personal career decision for Patterson. The leadership transition process is a natural evolutionary step in the life of the Museum. Patterson will always be considered an esteemed member of the Museum family.”

“Patterson Sims has set a precedent of enlightened leadership which will serve the Montclair Art Museum well for many years to come,” said Board Chairwoman Adrian Shelby. "His national reputation has helped to strengthen MAM. During his tenure and under his guidance, the Museum opened its expanded and renovated facility, the endowment has increased, finances and operations have been stabilized, and MAM has presented some of the finest and best received art and educational programming in the Museum's nearly 95 year history." In addition to his substantial developmental achievements, Patterson has worked on several curatorial projects, including a survey of the work of Montclair-based artist Tom Nussbaum, the nationally traveling exhibition of the Czech-American modernist Jan Matulka, and the first comprehensive Willie Cole retrospective, Anxious Objects: Willie Cole's Favorite Brands, which is still touring.

Sims has also significantly increased MAM’s community linkages and partnerships. He has worked closely with many community organizations including Montclair State University , the Montclair Pre-K Center and the Montclair Arts Council. The Museum’s partnership with the Masters of Fine Arts program of Montclair State University has brought various art world luminaries to lecture at MAM’s Leir Hall including Kerry James Marshall, James Rosenquist, Leo Steinberg, Rob Storr, Tom Otterness, Judy Pfaff, and Tony Oursler. Sims helped in the formation of and has served as the Museum’s standing representative on the Montclair Arts Council.

Sims has collaborated closely with Chief Curator Gail Stavitsky , Curator of Native American Art Twig Johnson , and the Museum’s Art Committee to cultivate art collectors and donors. Their efforts have contributed to the significant growth of the Museum's collections, particularly in the areas of Indian Space painting, contemporary Native American art, Will Barnet, and contemporary works on paper. Sims has worked closely with Stavitsky and Johnson to help shape the exhibition program and on selected projects including Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein, and the forthcoming Cezanne and American Modernism, the most ambitious exhibition project in the Museum’s history. Sims has forged connections between MAM’s two core collection areas, Native American and American art, by encouraging acquisitions of Indian Space painting and providing the critical introduction to the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, which led to the development of the acclaimed exhibition Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters.

Sims came to the Montclair Art Museum from The Museum of Modern Art, where he was Deputy Director for Education and Research Support. Previously he served as Associate Director for Art and Exhibitions and Curator of Modern Art at the Seattle Art Museum and Assistant Curator of the Permanent Collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Sims himself commented, “seven years is an appropriate term to accomplish a professional and personal set of goals. My intention is to assist the Museum in future years in any and all ways that would be of service. I have deep respect for and gratitude to the staff, the Board of Trustees, and other supporters of the Montclair Art Museum . I am very honored and fortunate to work here.”

Sims is expected to maintain close ties to the Museum after September 2008. The Philip Pearlstein retrospective which Sims has organized will be shown at MAM into January 2009. A future project highlighting Southwest Native American aspects of the work of Georgia O’Keeffe that Sims has been organizing in conjunction with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe is scheduled to be seen at MAM in 2011.

“Patterson will depart at the apex of his relationship with the Museum,” observed Adrian Shelby. “His vision, determination, and extraordinary knowledge of American art, both period and contemporary, have brought rave reviews from Montclair audiences and art lovers outside the Township. We regret that Patterson will leave us at the end of his contract but it is his intention and ours to continue the relationship into the future.”

Reg Hollinger stated "the announcement at this time allows a careful search to occur to ensure continuity and a new cycle of staff leadership for the Montclair Art Museum ."

To facilitate an orderly transition of leadership, the Board of Trustees recently formed a Leadership Transition Committee. This committee will orchestrate the search process for a new director and will be co-chaired by Trustees Karen Mandelbaum and Carol Wall. Other Trustees serving on the Leadership Transition Committee include Pat Bell, Susan Bershad , Rose Cali, Sylvia Cohn, Bob Constable, Lynn Glasser, Reg Hollinger, Steve Plofker, Lyn Reiter, Newton Schott, Adrian Shelby, Harlan Waksal, and Frank Walter.