In February 1990, the Bowers’ board president announced a new direction for the museum's collection and programming as "the cultural arts of the Pacific Rim". In April 1991, Peter C. Keller, Ph.D., associate director of public programs for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, was hired as director of the museum. The new museum building reopened on October 15, 1992 as the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art. Since then, the museum's collections, programs, and exhibitions have continued to feature Orange County history, but now reflect the demographics of larger Southern California by celebrating its diverse cultural makeup, with major emphasis on the fine arts of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, and the Pacific Rim. The Bowers Museum was recognized in the July 1993 issue of U.S. News & World Report as one of nine "must see" museums in the United States.