(Miami-Dade County, FL) -- Miami Art Museum (MAM), a leading museum of modern and contemporary art located in Miami, FL, has named Leann Standish deputy director of external affairs. Standish, a seasoned arts development and communications professional with more than 16 years of experience working with arts institutions across the country, joins the Museum after serving as assistant director and director of external affairs at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Standish's appointment comes in the midst of MAM's $120 million capital campaign leading up to the Museum's move to a new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building located in Downtown Miami's Museum Park in 2013. The Museum has raised approximately $52 million through the campaign to date and construction of the new facility is now underway. Standish will lead the Museum's development, marketing, public relations, facilties and visitor services departments as MAM grows its exhibition and education programs and broadens its national and international profile over the next five years.

"With our new home in Museum Park now out of the ground and rising fast, our attention is focusing on the exhibitions, education programs and special events that will unfold within the building's walls and ultimately define MAM's role in our community," said MAM Director Thom Collins. "Private sector support will provide the resources necessary for implementing those programs. Leann's background undertaking similar initiatives on behalf of other institutions nationwide will be an important asset for our team going forward."

Standish has significant experience in advancing arts organizations, having worked at institutions across the country. At the Indianapolis Museum of Art, she held the positions of deputy director for public affairs, director of development and communications, and director of institutional advancement; at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Michigan she served as director of development; at The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry she was vice president of development and annual giving manager; at The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art she held the positions of director of development and development associate.

In addition, Standish has been involved in a number of professional organizations, including the Willamette Valley Development Professionals (1999-2001), the Association of Fundraising Professionals (1998- present), and the Art Museum Development Association (2003- present).

Miami Art Museum
Miami Art Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum located in downtown Miami, FL, is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting international art of the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on the cultures of the Atlantic Rim—the Americas, Europe and Africa—from which the vast majority of Miami residents hail. Recently, Miami Art Museum has presented exhibitions of works by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Quisqueya Henriquez, Guillermo Kuitca, Wifredo Lam, Susan Rothenberg and Yinka Shonibare, and its Permanent Collection includes works by Doug Aitken, José Bedia, Mark Dion, Marcel Duchamp, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ann Hamilton, Arturo Herrera, Alfredo Jaar, Sol LeWitt, Vik Muniz, Wangechi Mutu, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, James Rosenquist, Tomas Saraceno, Lorna Simpson and Rachel Whiteread. Miami Art Museum’s educational programming currently reaches more than 30,000 people every year, with the largest art education program outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The new Miami Art Museum at Museum Park, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to open to the public in 2013. The new facility will provide room to showcase growing collections, expanded exhibition space to bring more world-class exhibitions to Miami- Dade County, and an educational complex. For more information about Miami Art Museum, visit miamiartmuseum.org or call 305.375.3000. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, Miami Art Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; with the support of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners. Miami Art Museum is an accessible facility. For sign language interpretation or assistive listening devices please call Miami Art Museum’s education department 305.375.4073 at least five days in advance. Materials in accessible format may be requested.

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