Museum Director Resigns, Cites ‘Loss of Momentum’

The director of the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has resigned, effective May 31, citing a “loss of momentum” in plans to expand the institution, which displays art and artifacts from the Americas, Africa and the Pacific Rim.

Paul M. Piazza, 47, has been director since 1987.

“Right now we’re in a stationary position for a while, and I feel it’s time for me to move on and look for other kinds of opportunities,” Piazza said Monday.

Josie De Falla, Piazza’s executive assistant, will serve as acting director until a successor is named by the museum’s board of governors.

The 53-year-old institution has been closed since January in preparation for a proposed $9.2-million renovation and expansion. But the focus of the development plan has changed twice during the past year, and the latest version is yet to be approved by the Santa Ana Redevelopment Agency, which will finance the construction.

The current scheme involves building a new wing that would allow for future income-producing construction on the museum’s site, which is owned by the city.

“The museum won’t reopen (after the expansion) until late ‘91,” Piazza said. “I’m not a developer. . . . I’m a person who deals with art, and that’s very important to me.

“I’ve been reassessing my own personal objectives and goals for some time now, and I know in the past 2 1/2 years I’ve accomplished a lot for the institution. The tasks were really monumental. This 50-year-old institution . . . was underutilized, underfunded, underattended and understaffed.”

Piazza cited such accomplishments as the formation of the nonprofit Charles W. Bowers Museum Corp. that took over management and operation of the museum in 1987, the development of new goals for the museum and the installation of a computerized management system.

“All this is ongoing while you’re dealing with a major expansion, which has been on hold for quite some time,” he said. “It’s time to rest.”

He said that although he is looking at “a couple of options” which he declined to discuss, he has no specific job plans for the immediate future.

Former director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Piazza succeeded William Lee, who resigned from the Bowers in June, 1986. During his 7 years in Colorado, Piazza doubled the center’s operating budget and raised $1.5 million for a major building renovation. Before that, he was director of the Tucson Museum of Art. He also worked at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, N.Y., and the New Orleans Museum of Art.