Stephen Little resigned yesterday as director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Little, who had held the position since 2003, said in a news release that he was leaving "to pursue new creative and professional opportunities."
He will remain with the academy as a consultant through spring 2011.
During Little's tenure, the Academy presented several high-profile exhibitions, including The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan," "Japan and Paris: Impressionism, Postimpressionism, and the Modern Era," "Neo Rauch,"Life in the Pacific of the 1700s: The Cook/Forster Collection of the Georg August University of Gottingen," and "Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff."
Little also saw the Academy through re-accreditation by the American Association of Museums, changes in its financial reporting system, an upgrade of its disaster plan, and the start of an ambitious effort to digitize its collection for online access.