The outspoken Alain Joyaux did not only change the name in 1991, but during his career he has also altered and improved the museum's reputation. The improvements he oversaw during his 20-year tenure range from researching and cataloguing the museum's nearly $50-million collection to the recent $8.5 million renovation, which doubled the museum's display capacity.

"One year of planning and two years of construction brought about the grand reopening of the museum, the beginning of a new era," Joyaux said. "To initiate the next phase and retire mid-stream would be a disservice. To retire now and enable new leadership to plan from a sound but open foundation seems like a far better choice."

As the museum's first professional director, Joyaux understands setting goals and a course for the future. Since permanent collections are what make museums unique, he said, one of his first tasks was taking inventory of Ball State's collection. Once everything was logged, the detailed information was made accessible through an electronic database.

The Art Reference Terminal (ART) system allows staff and visitors to learn about the history of each work, a biography of the artist, background on the donor and much more.

Along with cataloging the collection, Joyaux has helped preserve it, too. He has initiated the photography of each of the museum's 11,000 pieces. Those works housed in the storage area are now protected by a state-of-the-art climate control system, thanks to Joyaux procuring a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Restoration and preservation will be a continued theme of Joyaux's retirement. He and his wife, Aimee, purchased a Civil War-era commercial building in Petersburg, Va. Along with renovating the former cotton warehouse and dry goods store, he will travel to the world's leading museums, contemplating the best works, he said.

"I had always planned on retiring early, somewhere between 55 and 60," said the 52-year-old director. "I have advanced my schedule a few years. I have always enjoyed identifying appropriate goals and objectives for the future."

"After being an administrator for 20 years, I find myself less interested in the meetings and memos that inevitably lie between the present and the goals thus articulated," he said.

Finding a replacement will be a difficult process, said Robert Kvam, dean of the College of Fine Arts.

"Alain's departure will leave a large void for those of us who cherish the museum," Kvam said. "His consummate knowledge of the collection, coupled with an intimate awareness of and relationship with those who contributed to the evolution of the museum, will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace. We wish Aimee and Alain the very best."

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Joyaux at (765) 285-5242 or ajoyaux@bsu.edu.)