by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
West Coast, East Coast, West Coast, East Coast.
That sums up the travels of Marcelle Polednik, MOCA’s new director, since she graduated in 1999 from the University of Southern California.
She replaces Deborah Broder, who resigned from MOCA in September for a job with The Baltimore Symphony.
Polednik conducted a thorough undergraduate evaluation of what she wanted to do as a career before deciding on art.
“I must have had 10 majors in college. I majored in anthropology and Spanish and English and linguistics. It changed just about every semester. I finally confronted that I love art and how it has changed over the centuries,” she said.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in art history at USC, Polednik went to New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts for her master’s degree.
While in graduate school, she was the registrar for a private art collection. In June 2004, she was named assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Before that, Polednik spent almost four years as a grant writer and researcher at the University of Oxford North American Offices in Manhattan.
Then it was back to California to serve as chief curator at the Monterey Museum of Art, her post before accepting the director’s position at MOCA. While at the Monterey Museum of Art, she earned a doctoral degree in art history at NYU.
In Monterey, Polednik managed a collection of more than 10,000 pieces of art, curated 12 exhibitions and coordinated four traveling exhibitions. She also taught an introductory arts class at Monterey Peninsula College.
Polednik began her new job about two weeks ago and is discovering Downtown and North Florida.
“It reminds me of L.A. because the city is so centered around neighborhoods,” she said.
Polednik said she was looking for an opportunity to “take the next big leap” from curator to director.
“I was looking for what MOCA has. A great deal has been accomplished by this museum and it’s poised to accomplish a great deal more. I think it has the right ingredients,” she said.
She said the level of community support was another factor in her decision to relocate, as was the museum’s affiliation with the University of North Florida.
“I want to more closely integrate the museum into the community and grow the relationship between the museum and UNF,” said Polednik.
She has also discovered the local arts scene and Downtown’s “Off the Grid” gallery program for artists and property owners.
“The creative community is thriving. MOCA can be a point of intersection. The museum is an anchor point. My goal is to build a Downtown arts district,” said Polednik.
Other goals for the next couple of years include fundraising on the local, state and federal levels as well as among individuals, corporations and foundations.
“MOCA needs to be more than stable. It needs financial vitality,” said Polednik.
Polednik arrived a month after MOCA’s latest feature exhibition, “The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design,” opened.
Her first major event as director is MOCA’s annual gala, “A Chair Affair,” sponsored by Perdue Office Interiors. Private dining for benefactors is 6:30 p.m. Saturday and the lounge and club open at 8:30 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres, drinks and dessert.
For reservations, call 366-6911, ext. 202, or visit www.mocajacksonville.org.
356-2466