David Odo to Lead Honolulu Museum of Art
13July 10, 2026
TheHonolulu Museum of Art(HoMA) has announcedDavid Odoas its new director. Odo, who specializes in nineteenth-century photography of Japan joins the institution from the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he is director and chief curator. He succeedsHalona Norton-Westbrook, who departed last summer to helm the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. He will step into his new role on September 1.
Under Odo’s leadership, the Georgia Museum of Art saw annual attendance rise to 61,000, a record for the institution, with overall revenue increasing by 141 percent. Prior roles include a top position at Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Art Gallery, as well as posts at the Rijksmuseum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. His arrival to Honolulu will mark a homecoming for Odo, who was born and raised in Hawaii and is the son of the late Franklin Odo, the inaugural permanent director of the University of Hawaii’s ethnic studies program.
Odo joins HoMA as it prepares to celebrate its centennial anniversary, in 2027.
“David brings the experience, vision, and leadership that HoMA needs as we prepare to enter our second century,” museum board chair Amber Strong Makaiau said in a statement. “His record of strengthening museums through thoughtful strategic growth, sound institutional stewardship, and meaningful community engagement gives us every confidence that he is the right leader for HoMA at this important moment in our history. His understanding of Hawai‘i and international experience uniquely position him to lead the museum forward.”