Maine College of Art president to depart

James Baker, president of Maine College of Art in Portland since 2006, has announced that he will be leaving the job at the end of this school year in May 2010. Baker, who previously served as executive director of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado for 11 years, says in a prepared statement: “I am excited about pursuing my own art — specifically my photographic practice — as well as exploring new directions and opportunities.”

Baker’s most public achievement has been the consolidation of school facilities into its Porteous Building on Congress Street after the sale of the Clapp House on Spring Street to the Portland Museum of Art in 2008. The school is in the process selling its Baxter Building on Congress Street.

The board of trustees is expected to begin searching for Baker’s replacement this month.