Tensions are flaring in Palm Springs, where a prominent trustee has resigned from the Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM), alleging serious flaws in the process that led to the hiring of its new executive director.
Christine Vendredi was appointed director on September 29, becoming the museum’s third leader in seven years — not counting a brief interim CEO term by a trustee — according to the Los Angeles Times. Her appointment was quickly followed by the resignation of trustee Patsy Marino, who submitted a pointed letter criticizing what she called a “faulty” and “inappropriately influenced” selection process.
Marino’s letter claimed that the search committee “did not interview a single outside candidate,” despite two “exceptional” applicants being under consideration. She accused members of the museum’s executive committee, trustees, staff, and donors of interfering in the search, arguing the move would further damage “PSAM’s already poor reputation.” The Times also reported that two additional trustees have since departed the 22-member board.
Board chair Craig Hartzman defended the hire, telling the Times that the museum was “thrilled” with Vendredi’s appointment and that the process was “fair and conducted in the right way.” The museum did not respond to a request for comment.
Vendredi, who had served as PSAM’s chief curator for a year and eight months and as interim CEO since April, brings an unconventional résumé to the role. Before joining the museum, she spent 13 years at Louis Vuitton, including nine as director of art, culture, and heritage, leading major exhibitions and commissions. She holds two PhDs — one in art history from the Sorbonne and another in architectural history from Charles University in Prague — as well as an executive MBA from HEC Paris, but has no prior museum leadership experience.
Marino’s letter further alleged that PSAM delayed publicizing the director opening for four months after the previous director, Adam Lerner, resigned in April, and that it opted not to hire a professional search firm. Fewer than 20 mostly “unqualified” applications were received once the listing went up in August, she said.
Marino, who has served on the boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, said the hiring process accelerated abruptly in early September. Four of the six members of the search committee reportedly favored ending the search early. While Marino was on a business trip to India, she says she asked Hartzman for updates and was told there was “no news” — only for the museum to announce Vendredi’s appointment four days later. Hartzman, according to the Times, “took strong objection” to her characterization of events.
The leadership turmoil is the latest chapter in a turbulent decade for PSAM. Founded in 1938 as the Palm Springs Desert Museum and refocused on art in 2005, the institution holds an endowment of about $20 million and a collection of roughly 5,000 works, including pieces by Marina Abramović, Louise Bourgeois, Mark Bradford, Alexander Calder, Antony Gormley, Barbara Hepworth, Anish Kapoor, and Anselm Kiefer.
The museum also gained national attention in recent years amid a contentious legal dispute over the placement of Seward Johnson’s 26-foot-tall Forever Marilyn sculpture, depicting the iconic scene from The Seven Year Itch (1955). After years of litigation, a 2024 settlement determined that the statue would be relocated to a city park.
