http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/buffalo-news-editorials/article728352.ece
Native son returns on a mission
Bannon brings his creative vision home to direct Burchfield Penney Art Center
The return of Anthony Bannon as director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the art museum he headed from 1985 to 1996, is the quintessential win-win scenario for Western New York.
Bannon is one of the sharpest creative minds around and it was his foresight and unflappable determination for excellence that helped build the center.
He took those attributes to his position as director of Rochester’s George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, where he has served since 1996. Under his watch, the Rochester institution greatly expanded its collection, community involvement and international stature.
Bannon created the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, the world’s first permanent school of film preservation; the graduates of its 16 classes are now working in the world’s leading film archives. Bannon also created three post-graduate preservation schools and forged alliances with museums and universities. H oversaw many of the best-attended exhibitions in the museum’s 64-year history and the digitization of collections and aggressive social media campaigns to share Eastman House’s collections throughout the world. He’s also laid the groundwork for future Eastman House satellite schools in South Korea and Qatar.
It’s expected that he’ll similarly raise the bar at the Burchfield Penney to its highest level.
Bannon, a Buffalo native, has the institutional knowledge, background and intimacy with Buffalo and the Burchfield Penney that will help him envision the unimaginable.
His vision led to the expansion of Burchfield Penney by bringing in an extensive collection of important Burchfield paintings owned by the late Lockport collector Charles Rand Penney and in adding Penney’s name to the institution in 1994.
A former staff critic at The News, specializing in art, film and photography, Bannon has built a substantial reputation locally, nationally and internationally. His expertise has taken him around the world to promote exhibitions, give talks and raise money.
Bannon returns because he sees a unique opportunity to tie the mission of the museum to the civic improvement of Western New York on a grand scale. Welcome home.