Director of Maitland's Art and History Museums resigns

Andrea Bailey Cox, CEO of the Art & History Museums – Maitland has resigned, effective Dec. 19. She will relocate to Knoxville, Tennessee, to head the Aslan Foundation.

Bailey Cox oversaw the consolidation of the Maitland Art Center and the Maitland Historical Society, creating the Art & History Museums – Maitland, a merger of the MAC with the Maitland Historical Museum, Telephone Museum, Waterhouse Residence Museum and Carpentry Shop Museum.

Bailey Cox worked with Maitland's city staff and council to establish a long-term lease, which enabled the museum complex to undertake far-ranging goals. Under her leadership, in 2013, the museum revived its Artist-in-Residence program; in 2014, it launched the ambitious Art31 monthlong art festival; and in 2015 the Maitland Art Center became a National Historic Landmark, the first in Central Florida.

“Andrea’s vision and leadership have catapulted the A&H to phenomenal success over the last six years,” says Elisha Gonzalez Bonnewitz, president of the A&H Board of Directors, in a statement. “She will be missed dearly but the Board and I remain confident that the organization will continue to flourish during this transition.”

Rae Ward, A&H’s director of marketing since October 2014, will serve as interim director and will work with chief curator Rebecca Sexton Larson to ensure both “artistic and strategic continuity” during the transition.