Amanda Kroll has been named the new executive director of Gainesville’s Quinlan Visual Arts Center.

Kroll, an Atlanta native, steps to the post after nearly five years of service at the arts center. She has been the interim executive director for the past six months.

A news release from the center said Kroll was chosen following a national search for an executive director for her "commitment to achieving the Quinlan’s mission in her everyday activities."

Kroll has worked at the arts center for nearly five years in an administrative capacity. She came to the center as the assistant director in 2004 and became interim director when the center’s previous leader, Maureen Files, left in July.

Kroll is a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia’s art history program and completed graduate work focused on Italian medieval and Renaissance art at Georgia State University.

She already has plans for the center’s future that involve offering more interactive exhibitions and a wider variety of classes.

Kroll said she hopes to add a Photoshop course or a digital photography course at the arts center in the future, as well as a portfolio-building class for high school juniors and seniors who have their sights set on art school.

"While honoring and preserving our past, we also need to look to the future and to take advantage of new innovations to aid in our goal to make the Quinlan among the top visual arts centers in the nation," Kroll said in a news release.