L.A.’s Craft and Folk Art Museum names new director

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The Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles has announced that Suzanne Isken will assume the role of director starting Feb. 14. She succeeds Maryna Hrushetska, who left the museum in December after close to five years in the role.

Isken is the former education director at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown L.A. She was hired by CAFAM following an executive search, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, conducted by Museum Management Consultants Inc. in San Francisco.

‘I’m excited by the breaking of boundaries between different art forms,’ said Isken in a statement, adding that she is interested in ‘connecting audiences with artists who use craft, street art, design, architecture and other disciplines to create a message that has to do with being human, taking time, and creating sustainability for our planet. These are all the things embodied in the spirit of craft and folk art.’

The museum was founded in 1965 by Edith Wyle as a restaurant and crafts shop and was known as the Egg and the Eye. In 1974, it was relaunched as a nonprofit museum. The institution experienced a rough patch during the ‘90s and even shut down temporarily before being revived in 1999.

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-- David Ng