Sara Cochran and Ally Haynes-Hamblen Named Directors at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

Sara Cochran and Ally Haynes-Hamblen have been promoted to directors of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, respectively, according to a January 20 announcement from the Scottsdale Cultural Council. Cochran will also serve as chief curator at the museum. 

Both Cochran and Haynes-Hamblen had been serving as interim directors following the departures of their predecessors, Tim Rodgers and Cory Baker in the summer of 2015. Prior to that summer, Cochran was the museum's associate director, while Haynes-Hamblen was the performing arts center's assistant director.

Rodgers and Baker left as rumors swirled that Scottsdale Cultural Council president and CEO Neale Perl planned to eliminate the directorship positions. That the Cultural Council, which is a nonprofit contracted by the City of Scottsdale to oversee its arts institutions, did not announce plans to search for replacement directors seemed to bolster that rumor.

Now, it looks like those rumors can be laid to rest. 

“The Scottsdale Cultural Council prides itself on the incredible talent and dedication of its staff,” Perl says in the release. “Both Sara and Ally have served our organization with distinction. Their experience, insight and creativity are tremendous assets, and we know they will continue to do an outstanding job leading their respective divisions in a spirit of collaboration and innovation.”

Their promotions follow a string of recent hirings at Scottsdale's arts institutions, including that of Peter Bugg as curator of programming at SMoCA and Kalia Pang as SMoCA's public relations specialist.