SEATTLE.- Jon Shirley, chairman of the Seattle Art Museum Board of Trustees, announced today that the board has formed a committee to conduct a search for a new director of the Seattle Art Museum. A new director is sought to replace Mimi Gates who will retire from her position on June 30, 2009.

The search committee will be led by Charles Wright, a SAM trustee since 1995. Mr. Wright was the former director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York and is the current CEO of R.D. Merrill Company, Seattle, Washington.

Joining Wright on the search committee will be fellow SAM board members in alphabetical order:

Tom Barwick was formerly with CIGNA Insurance and a collector of 19th- and early 20th-century American art. He was elected to the SAM Board in 1992.

Susan Brotman served as President of SAM Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2007, leading the charge on a $180 million capital campaign to build the Olympic Sculpture Park and the expansion of the downtown museum. She and her husband Jeffrey are collectors of modern and contemporary art. Brotman was elected to the SAM Board in 1990.

Richard Cooley served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II and is the former President and CEO of Wells Fargo Bank and the former Chairman and CEO of Seafirst Corporation. He was elected to the SAM Board in 1984.

Barney Ebsworth is the founder of INTRAV, Royal Cruise Line and Clipper Cruise Line and co-founder of Build a Bear Workshop. He collects 20th Century American modernist art. Ebsworth was elected to the SAM Board in 2000.

Lyn Grinstein is an avid arts supporter. She is a Trustee of the Henry Art Gallery Association and a member of the Yale University Art Gallery Board. She was elected to the SAM Board in 1995.

Betty Hedreen and her husband Richard Hedreen have generously supported SAM and the arts in Seattle for decades. The Hedreens are collectors of modern and contemporary paintings and sculpture and have recently acquired several important Old Master paintings. She was elected to the SAM Board in 1990.

Christine Nicolov is the current President of SAM Board of Trustees and was elected to the SAM Board in 1997. She and her husband, Assen Nicolov, are collectors of ancient Mesoamerican art. Christine is a member of the Smith College Museum of Art Visiting Committee.

Brooks Ragen is the Past Chairman of SAM’s Board of Trustees. He is Chief Executive Officer of Manzanita Capital, Inc. a holding company that owns McAdams Wright Ragen. Ragen was elected to the SAM Board in 1992.

Constance Rice is the managing director for Knowledge Management for the Casey Family Programs Foundation. Rice heads SAM’s Community Advisory Committee and was elected to the SAM Board in 1995.

Jon Shirley is the Chairman of SAM’s Board of Trustees. Shirley joined Microsoft in 1983, serving as president, chief operating officer and director until 1990. He and his wife Mary are collectors of modern and contemporary art. He was elected to the SAM Board in 1997.

Curtis Wong is the Manager for Next Media Research at Microsoft Research and serves on the board of the Rhode Island School of Design. He serves on the museum’s Education Committee and was elected to the SAM Board in 2003.

Virginia Wright began her formal study of art at Barnard College, where she majored in Art History, studying with art-world luminaries. She and her husband, Bagley, the former Chairman of Physio Control Corporation, have been collecting art for decades. Wright was elected to the SAM board in 1959 and was president from 1989 through 1992. She also founded SAM ‘s Contemporary Arts Council and the Collectors’ Forum.