A few months shy of the one-year anniversary of the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver’s much-lauded $16.5 million building, the institution’s executive director and chief curator, Cydney Payton, announced Tuesday that she will step down in October.
Soon after taking the helm of the still-fledging museum in January 2001, Payton was already talking about the institution’s need for a permanent home, and her chief accomplishment has been making that vision a reality.
Dean Sobel, director of Denver’s Clyfford Still Museum, said the MCA’s 27,000-square-foot building at 15th and Delgany streets and the programs presented there since October have catapulted the MCA to a level significantly beyond where it was before.
“You just think about that legacy she’s leaving behind and particularly that building — it’s extraordinary,” he said.
Payton called the building, designed by David Adjaye, who is fast becoming a star in international architecture, the fulfillment of a dream.
“It was the right idea at the time,” she said. “For me, it’s something I felt like the cultural community deserved. Certainly, having a contemporary art space is an important and key piece to people’s relationship to our city.”
In addition to overseeing the building’s completion, Payton has organized nearly 45 exhibitions, including the U.S. museum premieres of artists such as Yu-Cheng Chou, Susanne Kühn and Collier Schorr.
Adam Lerner, executive director of the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar, believes Payton’s chief legacy is the many people she converted to contemporary art fans.
“I know a lot of attention will be given to building a building, but what might not get as much attention is that she actually built an audience for contemporary art in this city,” he said.
Payton plans to take a break after her departure and consider what she would like to do next.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
