Stephen Little, Honolulu Academy of Arts director since 2003, has resigned “;to pursue new creative and professional opportunities.”;

“;It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as the Academy's director for the past seven years,”; Little said in a news release announcing his resignation. Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, will serve as interim director during a national search for a successor and remain as a museum consultant through next spring.

Johnson said, “;We are grateful for all that he has accomplished at the Academy during his tenure.

“;Under his direction, the Academy's profile has been raised locally and internationally”; through landmark exhibitions, she said.

Among them was the museum's most ambitious exhibition, “;The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan”; (2008), which just opened in Cologne, Germany, Johnson said.

Little also helped expand the museum's collections of European old master paintings and of Japanese art.

Under Little's leadership, the museum began digitizing its collection so its art works eventually will be available to the public online. He is also credited with upgrading the museum's financial reporting system and its disaster plan.

Little, an authority on Chinese and Japanese art, was a curator at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago before becoming Academy of Arts director in 2003.