George Kinghorn, who has spent the last nine years at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Fla., has been named the new director of the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor, according to a source at the university.

Kinghorn was the deputy director and chief curator at MOCA Jacksonville. He had served previously as the museum’s director, according to an April 26, 2007, story in the Florida Times-Union.

Kinghorn could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Kinghorn takes over for Wally Mason, who announced his decision to leave the UM position last September after 11 years to become director of Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee.

Mason acquired more than 1,000 works of art for the UM museum’s permanent collection, according to a Bangor Daily News story from September, and oversaw the museum’s move from Orono to downtown Bangor.

University of Maine art professor Laurie Hicks served as the museum’s interim director this winter.

During his time at MOCA Jacksonville, Kinghorn was instrumental in opening the six-floor, 64,000-square-foot facility located in downtown Jacksonville. Kinghorn also oversaw the opening of a children’s interactive center, the ArtExplorium Loft; the opening of Cafe Nola, a bistro that is the source of $100,000 in annual earned income; building the permanent collection; and creating a multiyear strategic plan and collections management manual.

He oversaw more than 40 modern and contemporary art exhibitions while at the Jacksonville museum.

Before working at MOCA Jacksonville, Kinghorn was a member of the art faculty at Jacksonville University. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in visual arts from Michigan State University.

He is an alumnus of the Non-profit Executive Institute at Georgetown University and is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville. He has served on the selection and art advisory panels for the city of Jacksonville’s Art in Public Places Commission and has been a guest lecturer and juror at universities throughout the Southeast including the University of Florida and Savannah College of Art and Design.

Kinghorn was appointed by Florida’s secretary of state to serve as one of six grant panelists for the state of Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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