Lori Starr / photo Dexter Quinto, Studio Kaizen
After seven years in Toronto at the Koffler Centre of the Arts, Lori Starr is returning to California to take up the position of executive director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
During her tenure at the Koffler, Starr has been credited with growing the audience for the Jewish cultural centre from 4,000 to more than 100,000. Under her watch, the Koffler began to hold many off-site events and exhibitions, including art shows at retail emporium Honest Ed’s. Starr has also been present for the development of plans for a 40,000-square-foot new building for the Koffler.
In a Koffler release, Starr stated, “I am going to miss Toronto’s vibrant arts scene and all the friends and colleagues I have gotten to know and admire. I hope to bring all that I have learned with me to my new post… There is such great work to be done in the world of Jewish arts and culture in North America.”
Earlier in her career, Starr worked at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and the J. Paul Getty Museum, also in Los Angeles. Exhibitions she was involved with prior to arriving in Toronto include subjects such as Max Liebermann and Albert Einstein. In Toronto, she supported various projects including Melissa Shiff’s “Cine-Seder Roundtable: A Passover Happening,” a kinetic sound installation by Gary James Joynes/Clinker for the group exhibition “Spin Off: Contemporary Art Circling the Mandala,” and Corwyn Lund’s Word Count, a text-based site specific installation opening soon in downtown Toronto.
Starr’s time in Toronto has not been without controversy. In 2009, just a few weeks prior to the launch of a Koffler-backed artwork by Toronto artist Reena Katz, the Koffler dissociated itself from the project due to Katz’s support of an event titled Israeli Apartheid Week. Starr told NOW Magazine that “to refer to Israel as an apartheid state is to call Israel a criminal state and to suggest that it be shut down.” She added, “We learned a valuable lesson about the level of due diligence required of us.” The Toronto Star reported that the Koffler received a reprimand from the Toronto Arts Council for violating the city of Toronto’s anti-discrimination policy. In the months following, the CBC reported that negotiations had led to a resolution between the artist and the centre.
“Lori Starr made an enormous contribution to Toronto while she led the Koffler,” Matthew Teitelbaum, director of the Art Gallery of Ontario, said in a CJM release. “She moved inventive and galvanizing program into the community, while positioning important issues of our time into the public realm for active discussion. She did so with style, intelligence, and true commitment. She made our community stronger. I know she will have an important and sustaining impact on San Francisco. The cliché is true. Our loss is San Francisco’s gain.”
Starr is due to begin in her new post on June 10. The Koffler board is forming a search committee to recruit Starr’s successor.
