LINCOLN, MASS.- DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum announces today that Katy Kline will serve as the institution’s Interim Executive Director, effective immediately. Former Executive Director Dennis Kois recently relocated to Milwaukee to accept a position as President of the Milwaukee Public Museum. Kline begins her appointment at deCordova on May 14, 2014.

Kline expresses great enthusiasm for deCordova’s future. She notes: “deCordova is on a real roll right now with exciting and lively exhibitions and events, and they’ve done wonderful long-term planning. The institution is in such great shape that my hope is its momentum will continue without missing a beat during this transition. I’m delighted to be asked to help keep things moving forward until the arrival of a permanent Director.”

Kline is well prepared to step in as deCordova’s Interim Executive Director, as she recently served for 10 months as Interim Director at the Williams College Museum of Art. Kline has had a distinguished career in the museum field, including as Director at MIT List Visual Art Center, Associate Director for Smith College’s Summer Institute of Art Museum Studies, and Director at Bowdoin College Museum of Art. One of her major projects at Bowdoin was to oversee the significant renovation and expansion of one of the institution’s original structures, a landmark late- 19th-century building, with Boston architecture firm Machado and Silvetti Associates. DeCordova’s current landscape Master Plan posits a similar restructuring of the Museum, as well as the 30-acre Sculpture Park, which will continue to progress during Kline’s appointment.

Says deCordova Board Chair Gerry Frank: “The Board is thrilled to have someone of Katy’s caliber and experience at the helm as we search for our next Executive Director. Having lived in New England for so many years, Katy is very familiar with deCordova and excited by the Museum’s curatorial and educational initiatives. The entire deCordova community welcomes her with much enthusiasm.”

DeCordova’s Board of Trustees and Overseers has formed a committee to launch the search for deCordova's next permanent Executive Director. DeCordova is eager to partner on this mission with Phillips Oppenheim, the search firm that successfully led deCordova’s last Executive Director search for Dennis Kois. DeCordova aims to announce a new permanent Executive Director in early 2015.

Kline will bring her extensive museum leadership experience to the task of keeping deCordova's ambitious plan of exhibitions, programs, and events moving forward during the interim period between directors and supporting deCordova's staff and board.