Orange County Museum of Art CEO Heidi Zuckerman is stepping down at the end of the year after helping launch the Costa Mesa campus, officials announced Wednesday.
Zuckerman, who has been the art museum's chief executive since 2021, said she will walk away when her contract ends in December to focus on her podcast “About Art.”
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WATCH HERE“Serving as CEO and director of OCMA has been an extraordinary privilege, and I am deeply grateful to have played a role in shaping this institution and its connection to the community,” Zuckerman said. “As I look forward to what comes next, my commitment to the arts, to making art accessible for all and this vibrant cultural landscape remains unwavering.”
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SIGN UP Zuckerman, the 13th director of the museum since it opened in 1962, oversaw the newest campus in Costa Mesa at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in 2022, which was designed by Morphosis Architects under the direction of Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne.
The new location drew 500,000 visitors in the two years since it opened, 12 times greater than the former annual attendance at its Newport Beach location, museum officials said.
The chairman of the museum's board of trustees, David Emmes II, praised Zuckerman as a trailblazing force at OCMA.
“Her dedication to bringing world-class exhibitions and thought-provoking programming to our community has elevated OCMA to unprecedented heights. Though it is always bittersweet when someone decides to embark on a new chapter, we are excited to witness the great strides Heidi will continue to make in expanding access to the arts,” Emmes II said.
