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The Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum are well on their way to merging into a single institution. The move has been approved by the boards of both museums, officials announced Thursday.

The merger brings the two museums’ shared history full circle. Honolulu Academy of Arts founder Anna Rice Cooke donated her Beretania Street residence to establish the Academy — then built a house that is current The Contemporary Museum’s gallery.

Under the agreement, which is effective July 1, The Contemporary Museum’s collection and assets will be a gift to the Academy.

The new combined museum will be shepherded by Stephan Jost, a new director who joins the Academy on May 2. The Contemporary Museum’s executive director Allison Wong will become deputy director of the merged museum.

“The boards of both museums have shown foresight in orchestrating the integration of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum,” Jost said in a press release. He comes to Honolulu from Vermont’s Shelburne Museum. “There are so many things that are good about the partnership. Joining forces allows us to better serve our public, support all parts of our campus and create one collection. At the end of the day this is not about the Academy or TCM but about the people who visit us. Other museums will merge in the next several years, I want us to be the case study of how to do it right.”

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