PORTLAND.- Daniel E. O’Leary has retired as director of the Portland Museum of Art effective today. He has accepted the invitation of the Museum’s Board of Trustees to assume the position of Director of the Winslow Homer Studio Project. Dr. O’Leary will shift his time and efforts exclusively to this new role. Deputy Director Thomas Denenberg has been named Acting Director until a new director is hired. A search committee will be formed this summer.

The acquisition and preservation of the Winslow Homer Studio represents one of the most meaningful and significant projects in the history of American art,” Dr. O’Leary said. “I am very pleased that the Board has enabled me to give this activity the full effort and commitment that it so richly deserves. I look forward to the crucial assistance of our Board and staff as we work together to forge a future for one of the greatest historic sites in this country.”

Dr. O’Leary has been an outstanding director of the Portland Museum of Art,” said Board President Hans Underdahl. “Under his leadership, the Museum has had a balanced budget for 14 years, expanded its exhibition schedule, experienced record attendance, and expanded the Museum’s campus of buildings. We look forward to Dr. O’Leary’s new role as Director of the Winslow Homer Studio Project.”

The Winslow Homer Studio was created in 1883 by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens as a home and workplace for the famous artist. The Museum acquired the Winslow Homer Studio on January 31, 2006. Located in Prouts Neck, 12 miles from the Museum, the Studio is where Homer lived and painted until his death in 1910. The Studio and the surrounding grounds are currently closed to the public while restoration projects take place. The capital campaign goal for this project is $8.3 million, and to date, the Museum has raised more than $5 million in gifts and pledges. The Museum plans to complete the project in 2010.

Dr. O’Leary was hired as director of the Portland Museum of Art in 1993. Under his direction, the Museum’s budget has grown from $1.8 million to $4.6 million, and the Museum’s endowment grew from $3.4 million to $33 million. The Museum has also seen its attendance increase from 90,000 visitors to 150,000 visitors annually, with a peak of 188,000 in 2000. Dr. O’Leary was instrumental in the purchase of the Winslow Homer Studio and in developing the popular exhibition Bright Common Spikes: The Sculpture of John Bisbee (2008). He has curated several exhibitions at the Museum including Journeys over Water: The Paintings of Stephen Etnier (1998), N.C. Wyeth: Precious Time (2000), and A Solitude of Space: The Paintings of Thomas Crotty (2004).

Dr. O’Leary came to Portland from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where he served as assistant director for five years. Prior to his position in Minneapolis, O’Leary was executive director of Artrain, a national arts organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan, Dr. O’Leary holds a Doctorate in Art History as well as an MBA in Marketing and Management.