The International Center of Photography in midtown Manhattan announced on Thursday that it had appointed a new executive director, Mark Robbins, Dean of the School of Architecture at Syracuse University.
Mr. Robbins has worked as a photographer and administrator, a fundraiser and curator. Before joining the architecture school he served as director of design for the National Endowment for the Arts and as architecture curator at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. His own work, which is part of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, will also be on display this fall at a solo show at Colgate University’s Clifford Gallery in Hamilton, N.Y.
Speaking by phone, Mr. Robbins mentioned two recent events – the sale of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” for nearly $120 million on Wednesday night and Facebook’s going public – to illustrate both the tradition and transformation surrounding our visual culture. “ICP can be a great vector, a hub for discussion of the image in all of its configurations, photography, video, film, the Internet,” he said.
He will start at the center, which is both a museum and a school, on July 1, replacing Willis E. Hartshorn, who decided to step down last summer and plans to take on a new role at the center as senior deputy director focusing on special projects.
Jeffrey A. Rosen, president of the center’s board, said, “Mark impressed us with his vision of the transformational power of images, which is at the heart of ICP and its mission.” He added, “We also admire how he has translated this vision into action at the institutions where he has had such an impact, as a leader and a manager, and as an artist and an educator.”