Charles L. Venable

[5] His book, Silver in America was published during this time and was followed by Venable’s first major exhibition by the same title, which opened in Dallas in November 1994.

[8][12][9][3] His work there included overseeing a quality assessment of the institution’s collection that led to a major refinement of its holdings,[13] as well as renovated building space designed by Kulapat Yantrasast.

[9][17] In April 2015, Venable and the board ended the organization's long-standing policy of free admission to all visitors, a move which was largely criticized by the media and patrons,[18] but that the museum maintained was needed for financial stability.

[20] This was preceded by the exodus of several curators, including Sarah Urist Green, Tricia Paik, and Scott Stulen.

[28] He initiated a seven-year review of all 55,000 art objects in the collection, asking curators to rank them in terms of quality from a high "A" to low "D".

This exercise allowed the institution to identify and promote its masterpieces, while slating lower quality pieces for deaccessioning in accordance with national museum standards.

Venable's thoughts on the unsustainability of rapid collection growth and building expansions to accommodate more and more art brought him national attention, but proved controversial to some, including the IMA's staff.

[33] The phrase received widespread backlash and sparked a larger discussion of what was described by some former employees as a “toxic” and “discriminatory” culture at the IMA.

Before leaving, he had stated a desire to move out of the house as part of an effort from Newfields to save money and for the director to have a less public-facing residence.