Bainbridge Arts & Crafts executive director Susan Jackson has announced her intent to retire in August 2015, bringing to a close her 13-year tenure with the 66-year-old nonprofit art gallery.

“The board of BAC has mixed feelings about Susan’s retirement,” Ellin Spenser, BAC board president, said.

“We know she deserves it. No one has done more to transform an organization than she has, but we also know she will be a hard act to follow and that we have our work cut out for us to find someone to carry BAC into the future.”

“Under Susan’s leadership, Bainbridge Arts & Crafts has moved from a small, local craft and art store into a real player in the regional art scene,” Spenser added. “The quality of art is exponentially higher than it was

12 years ago; artists throughout the Northwest vie to be represented here, and visitors come from all over to see the work shown here.”

Jackson has had a long and storied career in the arts.

After spending eight years as a college admissions officer, she worked for 10 years at the Museum of Modern Art in New York where she created a Visitor Services Department that became the model for similar departments worldwide.

In 1989, Jackson was appointed as the director of the Aspen Art Museum. She left in 1991 to begin her own computer education and graphics business.

After being hired as publicist for BAC in July 2002, she took the helm as executive director in January 2003.

Jackson’s legacy includes the launch of many popular programs and partnerships, all of which increased the organization’s focus and reach while underscoring its mission to support Northwest artists and provide art education to the community.

Such programs include Art After 60, Art in the Lobby, the Art Rental Program and the ever-popular annual Mixed Nuts and Student Art Shows, which brought art and art education to community members of all ages.

Since its inception in 2004, BAC’s annual Art Book Drive has raised $12,500 for the Bainbridge Public Library’s collection of art and design books. Jackson also established collaborative exhibition and education programs with longstanding Bainbridge Island organizations such as the Land Trust, the School District, the Park District, West Sound Wildlife Shelter, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and Helpline House.

While Jackson’s target retirement date is August, she has said she intends to stay on for as long as it takes to fill the executive director position with a new candidate.