SAN DIEGO, CA.- New York-based executive search firm Phillips Oppenheim is being retained by The San Diego Museum of Art to conduct the search for a successor to outgoing Executive Director Derrick R. Cartwright. Cartwright is departing mid-September to become executive director at the Seattle Art Museum.

Phillips Oppenheim is a national leader in nonprofit executive search and its arts practice group has worked with some of the most prominent and prestigious museums and cultural institutions in the field. Most recently, the executive search firm has recruited and placed directors at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Working with The San Diego Museum of Art’s search committee, chaired by Boardmember Chuck Hellerich, Phillips Oppenheim will immediately embark on an international search for an executive director. The Phillips Oppenheim team will be led by Principals Sarah James and Becky Klein.

Also on the search committee are fellow Boardmembers Gordon Brodfuehrer, Martha Dennis, Tom Gildred, Sheila Potiker and Harvey White, current Board President Ken Widder and immediate past Board President Pam Cesak.

Following Cartwright’s departure on September 11, 2009, the team of deputy directors at The San Diego Museum of Art will assume leadership of the institution. The team is comprised of Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, Dr. Julia Marciari-Alexander; Deputy Director of Operations and Finance, Julianne Markow; Deputy Director of External Affairs, Katy McDonald; and Deputy Director for Education and Interpretation, Vasundhara Prabhu.