SAMA director Moyer to retire
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
G. Gary Moyer, the executive director of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, has announced his retirement. He will remain on staff while the board of directors conducts a search for his replacement and will probably begin a reduced work week in July.
Mr. Moyer, 68, joined the museum in January 2008 after working in business and education. He is a native of Ebensburg and lives in Johnstown, both in Cambria County.
“I’m now in the position to establish a cultural legacy for the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania, which includes my children and grandchildren and so on,” he said in 2008.
Looking back, he feels he’s accomplished his goals.
The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art was founded in 1976 on the campus of Saint Francis University in Loretto, Cambria County. It remains the administrative site and has four satellites — Altoona, which opened in 1979; Johnstown (1982); Ligonier (1997); and Bedford (2018).
The satellite in Bedford opened in May. The museum expects to draw visitors from outside the region due to the proximity of Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; and the Omni Bedford Springs Resort. Market research predicted a $2 million annual economic impact on the region, and Mr. Moyer thinks that’s a conservative estimate.
“I wanted to improve the museum’s financial position,” he said, reviewing his tenure. “It’s better off now.”
Other goals included adding to the collection, “and that’s been done. We’ve added more than 1,500 works of fine art, one of the most significant being a circa 1776 ‘Portrait of Captain Joseph Anthony’ by Gilbert Stuart, as well as importantcollections.”
“We’ve sustained programming and kept a robust schedule of art exhibitions,” Mr. Moyer said, adding that the museum recently completed a $500,000 project to expand the archival area from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet.
Hiring a museum curator was a priority, and he appointed V. Scott Dimond, who has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. The museum has nine fulltime staffers, nine part-timers and many volunteers “without whom we couldn’t function,” Mr. Moyer said.
Attendance at the combined sites is up from 70,000 annually in 2008 to 85,000.
“Our community outreach has expanded considerably,” Mr. Moyer said, through programs that take artworks, educators and working artists into public and private schools. The museum also has a health care partnership program that serves the elderly, infirm, veterans and children on the autism spectrum.
SAMA services 26 school districts, 91 schools and up to 15,000 students annually, he said. Its annual budget is a little more than $1 million, which he notes is close to the budget when he started 10 years ago. Foundation support has increased, and the annual gala now earns $100,000.
“It has been a demanding experience, a diverse experience, a results-oriented experience,” Mr. Moyer said. “The most rewarding part for me was getting to meet and work with people who care deeply about the arts and have a deep commitment to community, who I now call friends.
“The museum was founded in 1976 and has been here for over 40 years. There’s another 40 to come.”