The marketing executive behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s divisive rebranding campaign has resigned, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Paul Dien, who joined the museum in 2023 as chief marketing under former museum director and CEO Sasha Suda, will leave effective February 1, the museum confirmed. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dien has accepted a consultancy position; the museum did not provide further details.
Dien, who previously served vice president of advancement and partnerships at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, oversaw the museum’s name change and updated visual identity. Formerly known as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the institution unveiled its new identity last October as the Philadelphia Art Museum. The campaign included a website overhaul and redesigned logo with custom typography. Ryan Moore, executive creative director and partner at Gretel—the branding and design studio that worked with the museum—said the campaign’s main objective “was to ‘come down the steps’ by putting the museum in dialogue with its community”.
At the campaign’s debut, Suda said that she hoped the rebrand would boost attendance numbers: “It’s going to bring people in and help put us more clearly on the map.” Philadelphians who knew the institution as simply “the Art Museum,” remained largely unimpressed. On social media, some compared the new logo to a football club, while others joked about the new abbreviation: “The #phart museum? You gotta be kidding me!” costume designer Rita Squitiere wrote on X. “We had no problem calling it the Philadelphia Museum of Art…”
Amid the public backlash, several board members expressed their support for the campaign. “We are an amazing museum with an amazing collection, amazing curators and an amazing experience, and it’s really a shame, the jokes and negative reaction to the rebranding,” museum trustee Yoram Wind said, as quoted by the Inquirer.
In November, a month after the rebranding, Suda was ousted as director and CEO, three years into her five-year contract. Philadelphia Magazine reported that she received notice of her termination via an email that cited “for cause,” though it reportedly did not state what that cause was. The publication added that the board later met, “seemingly to be advised on what, exactly, the cause is.” She has since filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the museum, which has claimed that Suda misappropriated funds, a claim she has denied. (In a lengthy feature, the Philadelphia Magazine also cast doubt on the claim that the rebrand contributed to Suda’s firing.)
ARTnews has contacted the museum for comment.
