MOCAD hires new director to lead city's newest museum

Croquer, who began his job at MOCAD in December, is an intriguing catch for Detroit's feisty young contemporary art museum. He has management and curatorial experience, deep knowledge of the global art scene and a reputation as a soft-spoken, smart and generous collaborator who doesn't demand the spotlight. He also has an unusually cosmopolitan background. Born in El Salvador, the son of a Venezuelan diplomat, he's lived in 10 countries and speaks four languages fluently, plus enough German to get by.

At the same time, Croquer has been working in the trenches at smaller New York institutions like the American Federation of Arts and the Drawing Center. At MOCAD he becomes the key artistic leader, fund-raiser, manager and public cheerleader for a 2-year-old institution whose identity and infrastructure remain works in progress. It's a big leap up -- for both Croquer and MOCAD.

"It's a great privilege to be handed an institution at such an early stage in its life where you're able to create the program and set the tone for the future," says Croquer. "That's what everybody dreams about in a curatorial career."