The Walters Art Gallery's lengthy search for a new director ended yesterday when the museum hired one of its own -- Gary Vikan, who has served the past nine years as assistant director for curatorial affairs and curator of medieval art.
Dr. Vikan is "uniquely qualified to lead the Walters into the 21st century," Jay M. Wilson, president of the gallery's board of directors, said in announcing the choice. "He is an internationally known scholar, . . . a skilled administrator, a gifted educator and a talented communicator."
Dr. Vikan, 47, was chosen after a nationwide search, said Adena Testa, the board's president-elect and head of the search committee, who praised him as "committed to building on the past and moving forward" and "one who loves this institution."
She declined to name the other candidates but said, "Gary went through exactly the same process."
In assuming the post, Dr. Vikan said, "Our challenge now . . . is twofold -- to maintain an ever-expanding audience for the visual arts, in both breadth and diversity, and at the same time to secure a financial base adequate to sustain growth into the 21st century."
Dr. Vikan's appointment brings to an end a 19-month search, during which the gallery last June offered the job to Duke University Museum of Art Director Michael Mezzatesta, then withdrew its offer before he was to take over in November, citing "irreconcilable differences."
Ms. Testa said yesterday that the board had asked Dr. Vikan to apply for the job the first time around but he declined.
When it approached him again in December, he agreed.
In recent months, "I saw the obligations of the directorship [as] . . . gratifying and satisfying," he said.
The new director is a known quantity to both board and staff, a veteran of the Walters thoroughly familiar with its management style. He will head an institution in the process of regrouping after major expansion under his predecessor.
During the 1980s, then-Director Robert Bergman presided over a major restoration of the Walters' original 1904 building, the addition of Hackerman House as the Walters Museum of Asian Art, the increase of the annual budget from $2.3 million to more than $7 million and the increase of endowment from $12 million to more than $32 million.
Dr. Vikan's principal tasks will include the proposed renovation of the Walters' 1974 building, which is suffering a range of problems, including climate control defects, fire and security systems below current museum standards, and insufficient accessibility to the disabled.
