DETROIT.- The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), is pleased to announce that after a thorough search the Board has unanimously appointed Luis Croquer as the first permanent Director of the Museum. Croquer is currently a member of the Director’s Office at El Museo del Barrio where he oversaw special projects. He brings to MOCAD extensive experience internationally in both museum administration and curatorial work having held positions as Curator of Historical Exhibitions at The Drawing Center and Senior Curator at the American Federation of Arts in New York. He has also served as director of arts organizations in his native El Salvador.

“We are thrilled with the unanimous selection of Luis Croquer as our new Director,” stated Marsha Miro, President of the Board of Trustees--who has also been serving as MOCAD’s Founding Director, “Luis is one of those rare museum professionals who is both a terrific administrator and an exciting curator. We needed someone who would organize and root this young institution, building financial stability, while at the same time developing the artistic, literary and musical vision at the highest level.”

The selection of Croquer concludes an eight-month international search by the Board’s Search Committee that drew candidates from Kiev, New York, New Zealand, Berlin and Chicago, among many others. Lynn Crawford, writer and Search Committee member, said of the appointment, “MOCAD is fortunate to have a Director with a cutting edge vision and warm personality at this very exciting time in our community’s development.”

“MOCAD is a new and exciting institution that has brought great vitality and fresh perspectives to Detroit’s art community. I am honored to be joining it at such a crucial time in its young history,” said Croquer. “My emphasis will be to present contemporary art and culture, exercising the highest standards of managerial and curatorial excellence to fulfill the museum’s mission. I look forward with great enthusiasm to MOCAD’s upcoming exhibitions and programs, as well as to the new projects that will be developed in the coming years.”

Prior to his current position at El Museo del Barrio, Croquer has coordinated important exhibition projects on figures such as Ed Ruscha, Eva Hesse, and Gego. He also initiated projects on Frederick Kiesler and William Anastasi, among others. His organizational collaborations include major national and international venues such as the Venice Biennale, The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Musée du Louvre and Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, LAMoCA and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

A native of El Salvador, Croquer is the son of a diplomat and has lived in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the United States. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Communications from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London and is a former Fulbright Fellow with a Masters Degree in Art History and Criticism from the State University of New York at Purchase. He will assume his position at MOCAD on December 1, 2008.