After leading the University of Iowa Museum of Art for six years, Sean O’Harrow, the museum’s current director, will leave his position at the end of this calendar year.

O’Harrow will return to Hawaii, his childhood home, to run the Honolulu Museum of Art, according to a statement from the UI.
“I feel incredibly privileged to have been given the chance to lead one the finest academic art museums in the country for the past six years,” O’Harrow said in the statement. “As a result of incredibly hard work by [museum] staff, people around the world know more about this institution and its collection, and its educational and cultural roles across the state are gaining importance.”

Anne Bassett, the media-relations manager for the UI Strategic Communication Office, said the university will conduct a national search for O’Harrow’s replacement.

This past summer, the state Board of Regents approved construct a new art museum near the Main Library, projected to open in 2019. Bassett said the UI will work to prevent O’Harrow’s departure from affecting the timeline for this project.

“The [museum] project will move forward, and we will work to make the transition seamless,” she said.