Goodyear's tenure coincided with a period of expansion and growth at the Valley's best-known museum, and he was appreciated for his fundraising skills. According to the news release below, Goodyear was responsible over the years for scrounging up a total of $44 million for the museum.
His efforts to improve the museum still show. Read this 2006 New Times story to get psyched up for your next visit.
Text of Heard's news release follows:
HEARD MUSEUM DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Frank Goodyear to Retire After 10 Years; Search for Successor Begins
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Just months after his 65th birthday, Heard Museum Director Frank H. Goodyear, Jr. announced to the Board of Trustees and museum staff that he will be retiring from his position at the end of the year. The announcement caps Goodyear's 40-year career in the museum field. A national search for the Heard Museum's next director already has begun.
"I have been extraordinarily privileged to serve as the director of the Heard Museum over then last 9-and-a-half years," said Goodyear, who plans to live part of the year in the Valley and part of the year at his ranch in Cody, Wyo. "The Heard is a unique cultural landmark in the American Southwest. Great institutions are defined by great ideas and great people. The Heard is blessed with both. I leave with a large sense of pride and appreciation for the work of the Trustees, volunteers and staff. They turned the dreams of the last decade into a reality."
Since Goodyear joined the Heard in November 1999, the museum has seen several capital improvement projects at its downtown Phoenix location, including the $7.6 million reinstallation of the permanent collection gallery HOME: Native People in the Southwest, the creation of the Ben-Horin Garden at the museum's east entrance and the creation of the Berlin Gallery, a retail facility adjacent to the Heard Museum Shop. The museum also has renovated three other exhibition galleries and retrofitted the HVAC system at the Phoenix location.
Goodyear also spearheaded the growth and expansion of the museum's satellite facilities, overseeing the opening of the Heard Museum West in Surprise in 2006 and the relocation to a larger facility for the Heard Museum North Scottsdale, which opened at the Summit at Scottsdale in June 2007.
Several new events were added to the Heard Museum's lineup during Goodyear's tenure, including the Spanish Market, Katsina Doll Marketplace and Weaver's Marketplace. Under Goodyear, the museum also established its gala fundraising event Moondance as well as the Spirit of the Heard Award, which annually honors an outstanding American Indian who has demonstrated personal excellence either individually or as a community leader.
Among the museum's achievements under Goodyear's leadership is the recent awarding of reaccreditation by the American Association of Museums, a rigorous process that is given to the finest museums in the nation. The Heard is one of only 13 museums accredited in Arizona and one of seven museums to achieve accreditation in metropolitan Phoenix.
Board of Trustees President John Stiteler has assembled a committee to hire the next Heard Museum director and will conduct a national search for Goodyear's replacement. "Frank has served the museum in every sense of the word over the last 10 years, and his dedication is evident in every aspect of the museum's operations," Stiteler says. "We will miss his leadership, friendship and passion, but we certainly understand his desire to enjoy his retirement."
Stiteler notes that under Goodyear's leadership, the museum has raised more than $44 million in contributed revenue for operating, restricted and capital support, a testament to his passion for the museum and its projects and his ability to translate that passion to funders.
Goodyear began his museum career in 1969 as curator at the Rhode Island Historical Society. He spent 21 years at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, first serving as curator and then as director and president. Prior to joining the Heard Museum, Goodyear served as director of planning and development at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo.
Goodyear received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Master of Arts degree in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture at the University of Delaware. He also attended executive training and management programs at Columbia University Business School and the University of Chicago Business School.
Goodyear will remain as the Heard Museum's director until December 31, 2009.
