The announcement of the new director of the Tarble Arts Center took longer than expected because of the process of signing and returning the contract to the university.

Rehema Barber, who is currently the coordinator for Figure One, the off campus exhibition space for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was announced Monday afternoon to have accepted the position as the director of Tarble.  She will start her position June 15.

Glenn Hild, the interim dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, said waiting for Barber to sign and return the contract to Blair Lord, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, was the reason the new director was not announced earlier.

“Processes take longer then sometimes people imagine,” he said. “But I think she is an excellent choice for director.”

Hild said for this position and for most higher-up positions on campus, candidates must go through a screening committee unless it is a late hire.

“She was chosen because she was the strongest candidate; she comes with a good strong background,” Hild said.  “She has done professional development activities appropriate to the field.”

Hild said Barber has been involved for the last couple of years for Figure One, so she has curated a lot of exhibitions, organized exhibitions in that space and has worked extensively with students.

He said he believes those experiences, along with her curatorial skills and the fact that she had a rather successful program at her university’s off-campus center, are what made her a strong candidate for the director position.   

Lord said it took a long time to get the signed contract back to Eastern because Barber is currently off campus, and he could not announce her as new director without having the contract.

He said Barber has a different personality than Michael Watts, the previous director, so he believes the way she will handle Tarble will be different.

“As a part of the interview cycles, I had to have a private meeting with her. The interview was only a half an hour on campus,” he said.  “She was very energetic, very outgoing. Other then the interview I have not had any interactions with her.”

Hild said for the first year of being the Tarble director, Barber will not be choosing the exhibits for the museum because they have already been chosen.

“For the first year she will not have much of anything because the exhibition schedule is pretty much established already,” Hild said. “Tarble schedules out at least a year in advice; in some cases for certain show they are scheduled several years in advice.”

Barber’s first decision for the museum will not come until the 2016-2017 academic year, Hild said.  She will then be responsible for coordinating the exhibition schedule for that year.

Stephanie White can be reached at 581-2812 or at sewhite2@eiu.edu.