BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The director of the Birmingham Museum of Art is leaving his post after nearly two decades at the institution to become director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Graham C. Boettcher, the R. Hugh Daniel Director and CEO of the Birmingham Museum of Art since 2017, will depart July 31 and assume his new role Aug. 31, succeeding retiring director Laurie Norton Moffatt, who has led the Rockwell museum for more than 40 years. Under Boettcher’s leadership, the Birmingham museum grew its endowment, acquired major collections and earned acclaim for innovative exhibitions, digital programs and community outreach.
Boettcher, 53, joined the Birmingham Museum of Art in 2006 as a postdoctoral fellow and curator of American art, advancing to chief curator in 2014, deputy director in 2016 and his current position the following year. Having earned a Yale University Ph.D. in art history, he specializes in visual storytelling’s role in American identity and curated Rockwell-related exhibitions in 2012, including “Norman Rockwell’s America” and “Norman Rockwell and Coca-Cola: Two American Classics.”
The Birmingham Museum of Art, founded in 1951, houses more than 27,000 works spanning ancient to contemporary art, with strengths in Asian, African and American collections. The Norman Rockwell Museum, the world’s largest repository of Rockwell’s art, preserves his studio and archive while promoting illustration as a lens on social values like kindness and equity.
Boettcher’s move comes amid the Rockwell museum’s strategic expansion, including capital projects and broader national influence. The Birmingham museum anticipates a smooth transition, drawing on its deputy director, though no permanent successor has been named.