OCMA Official to Quit to Accept Post at MOCA

The Orange County Museum of Art will bid farewell to another administrator.

Brian Gray, the museum’s director of operations, is expected to announce his resignation this week to accept a similar position at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. His last day at OCMA is Aug. 18.

“I’ve been here a long time, so it’s a bit of nostalgia to leave,” said the 44-year-old Gray, who has spent 19 years at his post. He joined OCMA after the Newport Harbor and Laguna art museums merged in 1996. Gray wore many hats at OCMA, in charge of installing exhibitions and overseeing building maintenance and security.

Gray will join MOCA on Aug. 21 as exhibition coordinator, with a staff of nine. He’ll work closely with curators, including Paul Schimmel. The two collaborated previously at the Newport Harbor Art Museum.

“MOCA is a bigger institution,” Gray said. “As the exhibition coordinator, I get to travel internationally with the shows.”

Among Gray’s most challenging installations at OCMA: one exhibition with four multi-ton bronze sculptures, and another with 40,000 nickels and as many matches glued to each nickel, along with more than 300 toy submarines suspended from the ceiling by silk strings.

Gray’s sense of design and expert use of gallery space was a valuable asset, an Orange County museum spokesman said.

“He constantly did a stunning job, installing exhibitions in a short time frame and (within) small budgets,” said Brian E. Langston, director of marketing.

“One of the remarkable things is the amount of shows we put on in a year. We do 20 shows--that’s a lot for a museum our size. . . . Part of the reason we’re so quick on our feet is because of Brian’s expertise.”

Gray’s departure will leave the museum with at least two administrative positions to fill, including a curatorial slot. Curator Bruce Guenther resigned last year after almost eight years in that post.

“We’re very sad to see Brian go, but we’re also very happy for him,” Langston said. “He’s leaving big shoes to fill.”

The museum plans to create two positions to cover Gray’s former responsibilities: a facilities manager and a director of operations who will install exhibitions.