He was director of the Akron Art Museum, Ohio beginning in February, 1978, and ending in December, 1979, when he left his position due to a dispute with the Museum's Board of Directors. During his leadership he brought many exhibitions to Akron from New York, helped the institution to focus on photography and art of the Nineteenth Century and thereafter. He led the Museum's efforts to raise $5 million and design a new art museum facility utilising the 1899 Post Office Building in downtown Akron. This brief period was also important as Coplans bought cameras, set up a dark room in his apartment, and actively began his photographic work, initially by mimicking photographers who he admired, such as Lee Friedlander, Jan Groover, and others. He moved back to New York City in February, 1980.