Shelburne Museum director departs

It’s been a busy few months for big museums in the North Country.  In December, Caroline Welsh stepped aside as head of the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.

Now Stephen Jost is leaving Shelburne Museum, in Vermont.  According to a release issued today, Jost will take a new post in Hawaii.

Here’s the full release:

Stephan Jost is stepping down as director of Shelburne Museum, Board Chairman James Pizzagalli announced.

Jost has accepted a position as director of Honolulu Academy of Arts in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“It was with regret that the board accepted Stephan Jost’s resignation. His dynamic leadership raised the museum’s profile and set the museum on a strong and steady course even in economically challenging times,” Pizzagalli said.

In his five years at Shelburne Museum, Jost’s contributions have been many. Under his watch educational programs that serve tens of thousands of adults and children each year were revitalized and expanded. This included the addition of evening hours, summer camps, garden walks, expanded family programs and Passport to Learning, an innovative K-8 curriculum.

A focus on producing world-class art exhibits resulted in shows of major artists including Mary Cassatt and Ansel Adams along with a seminal exhibit on Shaker furniture design and a popular motorcycle show.  Popular exhibit buildings including the Colchester Reef Lighthouse, Circus Building, and Beach Lodge were renovated and reinstalled during Jost’s tenure, and Jost also oversaw an initiative to beautify the museum’s 45-acre grounds by expanding the number of gardens throughout the campus.

“It has been a complete honor to work with such a talented and dedicated staff and to steward this extraordinary museum. I feel confident the museum is well positioned for future growth and success,” Jost said.

Jost, 41, joined the museum in March of 2006. He came to Shelburne from Mills College in Oakland, Calif. where he was director of the college’s art museum.  Jost will remain at Shelburne Museum through mid-March. A search for a new director will begin immediately.

About Shelburne Museum: Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont is one of North America’s finest, most diverse and unconventional museums of art, design and Americana. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in a remarkable setting of 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds.  The museum’s collection includes works by the great Impressionists Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas as well as a prized collection of folk art including trade signs, weathervanes and quilts.

Tags: vermont