Marcus Center chief Paul Mathews plans to retire at the end of the year

For Paul Mathews, the ex-politician turned arts administrator, it's been a very good run overseeing one of Milwaukee's cultural centers.

The longtime president and chief executive officer of the Marcus Performing Arts Center said Wednesday that will he will retire at the end of the year.

The timing was right, he said.

Mathews will soon mark his 21st anniversary on the job in the midst of the Marcus Center's 50th anniversary season.

"The organization is in a strong place, a strong position," he said.

The organization's board of directors will launch a search for a new leader.

Mathews, 68, will remain with the Marcus Center through the leadership transition and will continue as a volunteer to help in fundraising for the campus master plan.

When Mathews, a former member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, was picked to run the Marcus Center in 1998, it was seen as an unusual choice.

The Journal Sentinel noted that of the four finalists, Mathews was "the only politician, the only candidate who never has run an arts center and the one with the least supervisory experience."

Hearing that sentence repeated, Mathews laughed and said his tenure running the center "answers what was written 21 years ago."

Laura Gough, chair of the Marcus Center board, lauded Mathews' service.

“He has been a transformational leader, deepening the Marcus Center’s connections within the community, establishing a strong financial foundation and positioning the Marcus Center for continued success well into the future," Gough said.

Gough listed several of Mathews' accomplishments, including assembling a leadership team, providing strong financial management, making the facility more open and welcoming and securing a 99-year lease with Milwaukee County.

"To be able to continue to have a stable and successful operation has been a major focus of ours," Mathews said.

Mathews said a "conscious effort" was made to "build programming and audience reflective of the demographics in Milwaukee."

Touring Broadway productions have been a staple of Marcus programming over the years. Mathews points with anticipation to the four-week run of "Hamilton" due in Milwaukee in the fall.

He also recalls a key event when the Marcus Center brought in a production of "The Color Purple."

"That was a show at the time our Broadway partner did not want to bring it here, didn't think it would sell here," he said. "We said we want it, want to bring it to Milwaukee. We'll generate an audience."