Ordway President Patricia Mitchell to retire

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will soon be looking for a new leader.

Patricia Mitchell, president and CEO of the Ordway, has announced that she will retire in December.

Mitchell has led the Ordway since 2007, a tenure capped recently with the opening of the center's new $75 million concert hall. Now that the project has been completed, she said, it is a good time to make way for new leadership as the Ordway considers future projects.

"That takes a period of years, and you really do need to be able to commit to the whole thing," Mitchell said. "And I don't think anybody wants me still to be running the Ordway eight years from now."

Mitchell is credited with helping guide the arts partnership of the four major organizations using the Ordway. She considers the alliance among the Ordway, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera and the Schubert Club more significant than the building.

"The collaborative spirit that exists now among the arts partners, which is a complete reversal of fortunes over the early decades, is huge," Mitchell said. "And that'll be huge going forward."

The Ordway's board of directors plans to launch a national search for Mitchell's replacement.