bolge - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T13:51:20Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/bolgeBoca Museum’s long-time director to retirehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-museums-longtime-director2010-11-03T21:06:35.000Z2010-11-03T21:06:35.000ZScott Simmonshttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ScottSimmons<div><p style="text-align:left;"><img style="width:379px;height:250px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960303481,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<br /><br />Staff Reports<br /><br />The big man of the Boca Raton Museum of Art plans to retire next year.<br />George Bolge, who has been executive director of the museum since 1995, and led the museum through the construction of a new building a decade ago, will leave his post at the end of June. <br />Paul W. Carman, president of the museum’s board of trustees, said in a statement that he will form a committee to begin the search process for Bolge’s successor. <br />The tall, strapping Bolge is a decorated Vietnam veteran.<br />He began his museum career in 1970, when he was hired as executive director and helped create the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale (now known as Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale/Nova Southeastern University). <br />He served as its chief executive until 1988, and remains director emeritus of the organization.<br />In 1995, when Bolge joined the Boca Raton Museum of Art, it was housed in a building on Palmetto Park Road now home to the museum’s Art School. <br />Over the next four years, Bolge stabilized the budget, re-established organizational participation in the state, county and city granting resources, developed new educational outreach programming, upgraded the exhibition schedule and enhanced the permanent collection. <br />That qualified the museum to be awarded its first American Association of Museums National Accreditation. <br />That recognition served as the impetus to launch a capital campaign in 1999, and in January 2001, the museum opened a new 44,000-square-foot facility as the cultural anchor in Mizner Park, downtown Boca Raton. It was virtually debt-free.<br />Since its move to Mizner Park, the museum has hosted nearly 2 million visitors and has organized more than 200 exhibitions.<br />“I take great pride in my achievements as executive director at the Boca Raton Museum of Art,” Bolge said in a statement. “I know that my efforts, along with those of my exceptional staff, have played a major role in enriching this community. We have provided a fiscally strong, nationally accredited institution with a balanced budget and award-winning exhibitions. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.”<br />Bolge will remain active in the South Florida arts community and continue to pursue his creative interests through speaking engagements and consultation to educational and arts institutions both <br />here and abroad. Ú</div>