One of Philadelphia's longest-serving arts leaders is stepping down.

Michael W. Schantz, director and chief executive officer of the Woodmere Art Museum since 1981, will leave his post Dec. 31.

Asked why he was resigning now, just as the Chestnut Hill museum was expanding, the 61-year-old Schantz said: "Before I get any older, I'd like to take on another challenge. I like the idea of finding another start-up situation. What I'm good at is . . . putting the infrastructure in place."

Schantz has gathered plenty of relevant experience in his 28 years at Woodmere. When he started, he and a bookkeeper were the museum's only two full-time employees, complementing a corps of about 100 volunteers.

Now, the Woodmere has 11 staffers and is about to undertake the third and last phase of a master plan that will produce a new wing designed by Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates. Its 25,000 square feet will double the museum's space.

Schantz also has overseen enormous growth in the museum's educational activities and the addition of 2,000 works to its collection, while deaccessioning others in an effort to concentrate on Philadelphia artists.

"The acquisitions are exclusively from Philadelphia artists now, whereas in the past almost anything was accepted as a gift," he said. "But those things have in most cases been deaccessioned and sold off, the money from which, of course, goes back to the acquisitions fund. We are thinking of going to auction soon with some additional pieces that are not mission-related."

About 40,000 visitors each year see the Woodmere's works by Warren Rohrer, Jessie Willcox Smith, Benjamin West, Daniel Garber, and others, or attend concerts and classes. Admission is free.

The new Venturi wing, the designs for which were unveiled in 2001, recently cleared a series of legal hurdles that have long delayed groundbreaking. A group of neighbors fought the addition, citing a variety of concerns ranging from parking to aesthetics. They said the building would not be compatible with the original Woodmere structure, a large Victorian with a mansard roof.

A Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas decision earlier this year allowing the expansion to proceed was not appealed, Woodmere trustee Joseph A. Nicholson said.

Schantz said that in fact the design would "pay homage to the main building. The new addition is a very low, sweeping addition, and because of the terrain we were actually able to build down. A whole floor is subterranean; therefore from an elevation standpoint, it is subservient to the main Victorian building. The allusions to the main building are excellent in terms of tonality and materials."

With legal obstacles overcome, the project will have to regain momentum. Additional design work is necessary, Schantz said, and the construction documents once again will have to go to bid.

Fund-raising also will be restarted.

"We had in hand $13 million," he said. But a $5 million grant through the state's Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program has been lost, putting a large hole in the total. However, Schantz said the price tag, once thought to be $18 million, probably would be less, reflecting lower costs of raw materials.

Fund-raising for the project will be part of a larger $20 million campaign to raise money for the building plus endowment, Nicholson said. The Woodmere's endowment has taken a beating - even more so than the norm.

"At one point it was over $7 million, but now after the crash it's down to, like, $2 million. But for an institution our size that's one of the largest permanent endowment funds in the state," Schantz said.

Schantz started out at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the mid-1970s, working to help rehang the collections after the building was air-conditioned. He was offered full-time work there, in operations, but chose to go earn a doctorate at UCLA.

The Venturi wing is the last part of a facilities plan that structurally reinforced the main building, introduced climate control, installed fire and safety systems, and brought the museum into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

"I never thought I'd be here more than three years," said Schantz, "but there was always another carrot."

Contact culture writer Peter Dobrin at 215-854-5611 or pdobrin@phillynews.com. Read his blog at www.philly.com/philly/blogs/arts

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