YOUNGSTOWN — Executive director is Louis A. Zona’s official title at the Butler Institute of American Art, but one of his favorite roles in his 44 years at the museum is missionary.

“It’s the art. My ability to share these artistic ideas and art historical subjects, I just love doing it, I love talking about it,” Zona, 81, said. “I love walking children through the galleries and talking to them about what these things mean. It’s missionary work.”

The Butler Board of Trustees announced Thursday it was appointing Larry W. Jones as interim director and would conduct an international search for a permanent replacement.

Zona will remain involved as director emeritus, according to Board President Ryan Martino.

“Obviously we want to keep Dr. Zona around as long as we can,” Martino said. “He’s just a valuable asset to the community and that organization … We want him there ’til the end, until he says enough is enough. And we’re still going to convince him to stay there because he’s that valuable to the Butler.”

Zona seemed less certain. He described Thursday’s announcement as, “Not totally my doing,” and wondered whether director emeritus was anything more than an honorary title.

Since his appointment in 1981, Zona has overseen a massive growth in the museum’s permanent collection and in the museum itself. He shepherded five major expansion projects to the structure at 524 Wick Ave., and the acquisition of the neighboring church, now known as Butler North.

Many of the biggest names in the 20th-Century art world exhibited their work there — Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Chuck Close — as well as some of the biggest names period. Beloved actors (Tony Curtis, Peter Falk, Kim Novak, Jessica Lange) and music superstars (Tony Bennett, John Mellencamp, Paul Stanley, Ron Wood) came to Youngstown to display another aspect of their talents.

“Tony Curtis said he wanted to drive a Cadillac, so I went to the Cadillac dealer, and they gave me a Cadillac for him to drive around a thousand miles an hour on the city streets,” Zona said. “It was crazy. I thought, ‘This is great. I’m going to die with Tony Curtis.'”

Zona also brought in exhibitions focused on quilting and fiber arts and photography that ranged from World War II images to rock concert stills, anything that might make someone walk through those museum doors for the first time.

“Purism is nice, but it doesn’t pay the bills, nor does it bring an audience,” Zona said. “I try to be as pure as possible, but I enjoy putting together exhibitions that inspire the average person on the street.”

Many artists over the years who grew up in the area or studied at Youngstown State University have talked about the impact visiting the Butler had on their professional career.

And thanks to a policy that started with the museum’s founder and has continued throughout Zona’s tenure, the masterworks in its permanent collection and the special exhibitions it brings in are available to the public free of charge.

“I go to different art museums across the country,” Martino said. “You got to pay to park. You got to walk 10 blocks to get there, you got to pay to get in. Here you could park right next to the museum, walk in and see amazing pieces of art that tell a story (for free). It’s just an incredible organization to be involved with. It’s an honor to be the president of the board of trustees and just sit there with greatness.”

The interim director is an Austintown native and former president of the Nickelodeon cable channel’s “Nick @ Nite” programming and the spin-off channel TV Land. Jones executive produced more than 500 sitcom episodes for the channels, including the television series “Hot in Cleveland.”

Jones also is an avid art collector, and some of the pieces he owns currently are on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, according to the press release.

“Larry volunteered and with his resume and credentials, it’s just a no-brainer to take that opportunity and run with it,” Martino said. “Larry agreed to do that for four to six months while we do this search. And Larry has been longtime friends with Dr. Zona, and I think the two of them are going to work together to develop a strategy and game plan that is going to be securing the Butler’s success for the next 100 years or more.”

But following Zona’s legacy will be daunting.

“If we find somebody for the Butler that does half of what Dr. Zona did in the next 10 years, we’re going to be in great shape,” Martino said.