In July, the Bronx Museum of the Arts celebrated breaking ground on its $33 million renovation and expansion. One month later, the museum’s executive director announced his departure.
Only four years into his role, Klaudio Rodriguez leaves to become the executive director and CEO of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. But before he sets flight for the sunshine state, the Bronx Times sat with him to find out what he’s learned in the Boogie Down, what he will long for, and what he hopes to bring with him to his new role.
Joining the Bronx Museum as deputy director in 2017, Rodriguez saw the museum through the untimely loss of its beloved late director, Holly Block, who succumbed to breast cancer just weeks after he was hired. Three years later, in 2020, he was appointed executive director during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My first moment of pride was looking the staff in the eye and telling them things are going to be ok,” Rodriguez told the Bronx Times in reference to COVID-19.
His countenance became nostalgic as he recounted his memories of the Bronx and noted that Bronxites are extremely proud of the borough, adding that they wear their hometown as a badge of honor—unlike anywhere else—”as a way of lifting.” He marveled at its diversity and people’s use of front stoops in place of backyards, something he was not accustomed to having grown up in Florida by way of Nicaragua.
“You have people setting up their little barbecue grills, popping up the fire hydrants, the kids are running around on their bikes,” he said. “As I walked down the sidewalk, I walked in and out of people’s lives, or even in and out of families and to me, that energy is something that I will miss.”
Rodriguez’ appreciation for the Bronx and its culture was a large factor in why his favorite exhibit—out of the more than 30 exhibits he oversaw at the museum—was “Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits of John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres.” (2022).
“It really touched on this idea of community and really capturing the Bronx and sort of turning it inside out,” said Rodriguez. “It really gave back to the people.”
In the late 1970s and early ’80s, Ahearn and Torres began immortalizing locals on the streets of the South Bronx with live castings of plaster busts. The two artists’ long overdue retrospective allowed their subjects to visit the building on the Grand Concourse and see themselves frozen in time more than 40 years ago.
When speaking about his staff, Rodriguez swelled with pride and was confident of the museum’s future despite his exit. Deputy director, Shirley Solomon, and chief advancement officer, Yvonne Garcia, will run things while the board of trustees conducts a national search for his replacement.
But Rodriguez’s departure is bittersweet as he admittedly leaves with sadness, calling the museum “his baby.” While on one hand, he’s taking on an equally important role at the MFA in St. Petersburg, he is also moving to be closer to his family as his parents age and decline in health. Rodriguez has two children in their 20s who also live in Florida and this move will allow him to be closer to them as well. But for him, it’s not a goodbye as much as a see you later.
“I’m not closing the door, walking away or saying I’m done. I’ll continue to be part of the family,” Rodriguez told the Bronx Times with a hopeful smile. He added, “whoever walks through that door is walking into a fantastic place.”
Reach ET Rodriguez at etrodriguez317@gmail.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
