Morven Museum & Garden Executive Director Jill Barry. File photo.

Jill Barry, who has served as the executive director of Morven Museum & Garden for the past seven years, has accepted a new job as CEO of the Houston Botanic Garden.

Elizabeth Allan, the current deputy director and curator at Morven, has been appointed interim director beginning Sept. 1. Allan has worked at Morven for 13 years.

Barry is credited with leading Morven through a transformational period that included significant capital improvements, the construction of the Stockton Education Center, the reimagining of the first-floor galleries with a more robust and inclusive narrative, and the successful navigation of Morven through the pandemic.

She began her tenure at Morven in the fall of 2016. She previously worked at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama, the Naples Botanical Garden, the Walters Art Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

A national search for Barry’s replacement will be led by board member Greg Rogers, with board members Rachel Herr, Courtney Lederer, Richard Pierce, and Liza Morehouse serving on the search committee.