2015, Venable and the board ended the organization's long-standing policy of free admission to all visitors, a move which was largely criticized by the media and patrons, but that the museum maintained was needed for financial stability. In 2017, Venable led the decision to rebrand the institution as “Newfields: A Place for Nature and the Arts” where additional emphasis was placed on the campus's several garden and the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. This was preceded by the exodus of several curators, including Sarah Urist Green, Tricia Paik, and Scott Stulen. In early 2018, the organization's new direction was heavily criticized by art critic Kriston Capps writing for CityLab, stating the changes were, "the greatest travesty in the art world in 2017" and that, "Venable [had] turned a grand encyclopedic museum into a cheap Midwestern boardwalk." The criticisms were widely discussed in the art community and Indianapolis media. In 2019, Venable sought to improve the quality of the IMA’s art collection, as well as reduce the amount of money the museum spent on art storage. The museum spent $5.6 million per year to store and maintain the art, and in 2018, the museum needed to double its storage space at what would have been a cost of $12 million. He initiated a seven-year review of all 55,000 art objects in the collection, asking curators to rank them in terms of quality from a high "A" to low "D". This exercise allowed the institution to identify and promote its masterpieces, while slating lower quality pieces for deaccessioning in accordance with national museum standards. Venable's thoughts on the unsustainability of rapid collection growth and building expansions to accommodate more and more art brought him national attention, but proved controversial to some, including the IMA's staff. Venable also spearheaded efforts to bring large-scale digital art to the IMA galleries. The institution dedicated 30,000 sq. ft. of galleries called "The Lume" for digital art exhibitions in 2021, replacing the contemporary art exhibit at the museum. Venable and Newfields drew national attention in February 2021 for a job posting for a new director. The Board of Trustees had elevated Venable to the new position of President of Newfields as part of a transition strategy that included Venable’s planned retirement in a few years and the appointment of a new art museum director. In consultation with the San Francisco-based executive search firm m/Oppenheim Associates,