Bates College has appointed Mark H. C. Bessire as the director of the Bates College Museum of Art, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Jill Reich announced today. Bessire will begin his job in early August.

Bessire comes to Bates from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the Maine College of Art (MECA), where he has been director since 1998. A graduate of New York University, Bessire earned an M.A. degree in art history from Hunter College, City University of New York, and an M.B.A. degree from the Columbia Business School, Columbia University. He was a Helena Rubenstein Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program and received a Fulbright Fellowship for study at the Sukuma Museum in Tanzania. 

At MECA, Bessire has brought increased visibility to the museum, most notably by mounting ambitious exhibitions and accompanying catalogues, including the retrospective he organized of visual/performance artist and Bates lecturer William Pope.L's work, a show that is now on a national tour. Bessire brings to Bates a wealth of experience and imaginative ideas about enriching the academic program of the college using the museum's formidable resources.

"I join my colleagues in looking forward with great expectations for the Museum of Art," Reich said. "It is indeed a unique resource for the college and promises to hold great things in store for us the in the coming years."

At Bates, Bessire replaces Genetta McLean, who left the college to direct the Round Top Center for the Arts in Damariscotta. William Low, the curator at Bates, has served as interim director since McLean's departure.