Adam Lerner has been named director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Lerner was previously director of the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar in Lakewood, Colorado, which will merge with the Denver museum as part of the hiring. Sarah Baie will direct programming at the Lab from within the MCA.

The announcement comes at the end of a six-month search following former director Cydney Paytons announcement last July that she would resign. Payton left the museum at the end of October. 

"MCA Denver’s ability to engage the community and advance Denver as an innovative center for art and culture will be greatly enhanced by these two institutions joining forces under Adam’s expertise," said board chair Mark Falcone. Falcone is the managing partner of Continuum Partners, which cofounded the Lab along with the Denver Art Museum in 2004.

The MCA Denver is a non-collecting institution that in 2007 inaugurated a new David Adjayedesigned, 27,000-square-foot space in downtown Denver. The Lab is a 104-acre, mixed-use development that is part gallery and part community space; it presents contemporary art exhibitions and a series of public programs.