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LAST YEAR 100,000 people visited the Queens Museum. But 12 years ago, when Janet Schneider assumed the post of executive director of the museum, a fraction of that number came to the 17-year-old visual arts museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. During Schneider's tenure, public and private contributions boosted the museum's budget from $300,000 to $2 million. Now, there are even signs directing people to the museum.
"It's hard to make these advances," she said. "It looks glamourous, but it's a lot of struggle.
Now, just as the institution plans to launch a $14 million
| expansion that will double exhibition space - the culmination of |
| Schneider's work - she has left to begin a career as an |
independent arts consultant.
"I can still enjoy the growth of the museum," she said, "from a different vantage point."
Schneider, a former professional painter, said she wants to refocus her energies on other creative matters, such as curating and working directly with artists.
Running the museum called for different kinds of creative challenges. "I looked at making the museum grow as primarily a creative problem,...