Lynn Zelevansky, the curator of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has been tapped to head the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh officials announced.

"We are absolutely delighted to be welcoming Lynn Zelevansky as the new Henry J. Heinz II director of Carnegie Museum of Art," said Carnegie Museums President David M. Hillenbrand.

"Her work as a writer, educator, and incredibly thoughtful art curator has been leading her to such a position for quite some time, and we're thrilled that our search coincided with Lynn's readiness to take on the director's role at a respected institution such as Carnegie Museums," Mr. Hillenbrand said.

Ms. Zelevansky begins July 15. The Museums began a search last summer when Richard Armstrong announced that he was leaving to head the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York. The Carnegie's chief curator, Louise Lippincott, and deputy director, Maureen Rolla, have been acting co-directors since November.

Ms. Zelevansky, currently the Terri and Michael Smooke curator and department head of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has organized numerous modern and contemporary exhibitions during her 14 years there.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, established in 1910, is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of 100,000 objects dating from ancient times to the present. Almost 1 million people annually visit its 20-acre campus, which comprises seven buildings in the center of Los Angeles.

Ms. Zelevansky went to Los Angeles from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where she spent seven years in the department of painting and sculpture. Before that, she taught at The New School for Social Research, The Cooper Union, and Pratt Institute in New York City.

Ms. Zelevanksy, an artist, educator, writer and award-winning curator, earned a bachelor's degree in photography from Pratt Institute and a master's degree at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

She also has a Pittsburgh connection. The native New Yorker attended Carnegie Mellon University for two years as an undergraduate.

"It was a great experience," Ms. Zelevansky, 61, said by phone from California yesterday. "I loved it."

But then her husband-to-be moved out of state to attend graduate school. "I missed him and wanted to be with him, so I left."

Paul Zelevansky, an artist, writer and educator, is very interested in Fred Rogers, she said, and in the application of Mr. Rogers' methods to teaching adults.

The Zelevanskys have two daughters, Nora, a freelance journalist who lives in Los Angeles, and Claudia, a New York theater director and writer.

While she worked as a photographer for 10 years, Ms. Zelevansky found a better professional fit with her academic and curatorial work. Asked if she pursues her artistic expression, she answered, "I don't still make art. I'm not entitled to that [designation]." But the experience left her with a "keen understanding of what artists do, and what they need."

Ms. Zelevansky said that the tradition of the Carnegie International influenced her decision to accept the directorship.

"Absolutely. No question about it. The International is what makes the Carnegie Museum of Art an international player. I'd like us to be even more of that. The possibilities are just enormous."

Ms. Zelevansky has been a frequent visitor to Pittsburgh, lecturing at The Andy Warhol Museum in 2003 and viewing the Carnegie International exhibits, including that of 2008-09.

She said she's looking forward to coming to Pittsburgh.

"I know the community and have a real sense of how culturally committed the community is. The Carnegie is a jewel and the collection is wonderful.

"This is a museum with an incredible reputation, and it has enormous potential for making even greater contributions regionally, nationally and internationally. It's also an exciting time to be joining the Pittsburgh community. Pittsburgh is a city with an indomitable spirit. I'm so impressed with its ongoing cultural and economic vitality."