2024 Art Curators Conference Catalog

Art Curators Conference

May 1–May 4, 2024 San Francisco, CA, and Virtual #artcuratorsSF

San Francisco Land Acknowledgement

The Conference occupies unceded land of the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are the original inhabitants of what is now the San Francisco Peninsula. The greater Bay Area is also the ancestral territory of other Ohlone peoples, as well as the Miwok, Yokuts, and Patwin. We acknowledge, recognize, and honor the Indigenous ancestors, elders, and descendants whose nations and communities have lived in the Bay Area over many generations and continue to do so today. We respect the enduring relationships that exist between Indigenous peoples and their homelands. We are committed to partnering with Indigenous communities to raise awareness of their legacy and engage with the history of this region and the impacts of genocide and the dynamics of settler colonialism that persist.

Acknowledgement courtesy of The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

AAMC Foundation Acknowledgement

AAMC Foundation offices are in Manhattan, and our staff work remotely in Brooklyn as well, locations situated upon the unceded, seized territory of the Lenape and Canarsie peoples, and benefitted from the economies of enslavement and the labors of African descended captives. We owe our existence and vitality to generations from around the world who were brought here against their will, drawn here to escape persecution, and some that have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. We pay respect to their communities, past and present. This acknowledgement asks us each to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today.

Code of Conduct Pledge

AAMC Foundation is dedicated to an environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity at our programs. Each individual has the right to be in a professional atmosphere that prohibits discriminatory practices, including harassment. Those taking part in our activities are expected to demonstrate honesty, integrity, respect, and civility and are accountable for their conduct. Each person participating, whether a speaker or audience member, is here by choice and speaks with their own voice. Views expressed are each individual’s, not that of the organization they work for, our organization, or for anyone else.

This program requires all attendees and speakers to follow our Code of Conduct, which you can read here: http://bit.ly/AAMCCodeofConduct . To submit a violation of it, visit: https://tinyurl.com/y38cp9uy.

Thank you for making space to attend the Conference.

LIVING ART

Art Curators Conference Code of Conduct

AAMC & AAMC Foundation programs, events, and opportunities respect the rights, differences, and dignity of others. Those taking part in our activities are expected to demonstrate honesty, integrity, respect, and civility in those activities. We reserve the right to suspend services to and exclude from participation in AAMC & AAMC Foundation and its programs any person whose inappropriate behavior adversely affects the safety, well-being, and inclusion of our community and team.

Each individual has the right to be in a professional atmosphere that prohibits discriminatory practices, including harassment. It is the policy of AAMC & AAMC Foundation to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any person in connection with any program or activity of the organization. Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of others based on human difference.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

• Comments or actions that minimize a person’s lived experiences, identity,1 or safety

• Deliberate misgendering or use of “dead”2 or rejected names 3

• Deliberate “outing” of any person’s lived experiences or identity without their consent

• Sustained disruption of talks or other events

• Physical contact without consent or after a request to stop

• Unwelcome sexual attention

• Deliberate intimidation or stalking of any kind—in person or online

• Collection or distribution of harassing photography or recordings

• Threats or acts of violence

• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

1 “lived experiences” means the firsthand accounts and impressions of living as a member of a minority or oppressed group.

2 “dead naming” means to use someone’s old name. It specifically refers to the practice of deliberately referring to a trans person by their pre-transition name. Not only is it disrespectful, but it can also be considered an act of violence, especially when a person is not publicly out as trans.

3 “rejected name” can also include persons who have changed their names for non-transition-related reasons such as relationships, political statements, etc. Malcolm X changed his name for very specific reasons related to his identity; it is disrespectful to refer to him as anything besides Malcolm X.

Discrimination/Harassment is not:

• Feeling persecuted for your social privilege

• “Reverse”-isms, including “reverse racism,” “reverse sexism,” and “cisphobia”

• Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”

• Refusal to explain or debate social-justice issues when the person being asked is put in a defensive position based on their lived experience, personal identity, or safety

• Communication in a “tone” you don’t find congenial

• Discussion of sensitive topics

• Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions

This Code of Conduct applies to all AAMC & AAMC Foundation events, including our webinars. If you or someone else is being discriminated against or harassed, please report it as soon as possible. You can make a report by emailing or calling our office directly or by making an anonymous report at https://forms.gle/uq139FNAWsT1gAqS9.

This Code of Conduct is in place to protect the safety of all attendees. Attendees asked to stop any harassing or discriminatory behavior are expected to comply immediately. AAMC & AAMC Foundation staff may take action to redress anything disrupting the program or making the environment unsafe for participants. Anyone engaging in any of the behaviors outlined above may be subject to expulsion with no refund from meetings and related events, or future events.

This Code of Conduct is based on the policy from the American Alliance of Museums, which was based on the Geek Feminism wiki and uses language with permission from the Nonprofit Technology Conference’s Code of Conduct. Please note that AAMC & AAMC Foundation are not responsible or liable for the level of service provided by third parties listed in the resources section above.

Conference Supporters & Contributors

Thank you to the following for their support and enthusiasm for the 2024 Sponsors

GOLD

SILVER

Individual Donors

BENEFACTOR

Blake Koh

Roberta Sherman

Host Institutions

African American Museum and Library at Oakland

Asian Art Museum San Francisco

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University

The Contemporary Jewish Museum

ICA San José

ICA SF

KADIST

Legion of Honor

Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana

Museum of the African Diaspora

Museum of Craft and Design

Oakland Museum of California

San José Museum of Art

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Benefit Committee

Melissa Buron, Director of Collections and Chief Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum

José Carlos Diaz, Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum; Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Lauren Haynes, Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island; Vice President, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Christina Hellmich, Curator in Charge, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Emily Lenz, Director and Partner, D. Wigmore Fine Art; Co-Chair, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Wendi Norris, Founder, Gallery Wendi Norris

Jessica Silverman, Owner, Jessica Silverman

Kathryn Wade, Director of Artist Relations, Jessica Silverman

Ann Yonemura, Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art; Former Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Conference Producer

Lucy Lydon, Luce Productions

AAMC & AAMC Foundation Team

Alexis Gostelow, Development and Office Administrator

Emma Huneck, Senior Program Manager

Judith Pineiro, Executive Director

Finley Reilley, Program Assistant

Split

Mathieu Lehanneur,

Featured Speakers

Ginger Shulick Porcella, Independent Curator & Consultant

Ginger Shulick Porcella helps organizations and communities transform and heal, using the lens of contemporary art to spur critical dialogue around difficult issues. She has held directorships at Creative Growth Art Center (CA), Franconia Sculpture Park (MN), Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson (AZ), and the Institute for Contemporary Art San Diego (CA). In all of her roles, she has helped communities acknowledge their past—however painful—and create a road map to collectively move forward through radical listening, calculated risk-taking, and cultivating “unexpected audiences.” Porcella is Founder/Co-Curator of the 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial and has curated critically acclaimed museum exhibitions such as Amir H. Fallah: Scatter My Ashes on Foreign Lands; Blessed Be: Mysticism, Spirituality and the Occult in Contemporary Art ; and Dazzled: OMD, Memphis Design, and Beyond. Her exhibitions have been positively reviewed in Frieze, The New York Times, and Hyperallergic, and in 2015, she was named the “Voice of the Year” by the San Diego press for her visionary leadership in transforming the arts and cultural ecosystem of Southern California and Baja, Mexico. Porcella holds an MA in Socio-cultural Anthropology from Columbia University and a BA in Art History from DePaul University. She lives in Oakland, CA, with her partner, Don Porcella, and her fur-babies, Maya Papaya and Radio McGriddles.

Komal Shah

Originally from Ahmedabad, India, Komal Shah migrated to the U.S. in 1991 to study computer science in California. After completing her Masters at Stanford, she obtained an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, eventually holding positions in the executive suites of Oracle, Netscape, and Yahoo. In 2008, Shah left the tech industry to focus on philanthropic pursuits. She then began developing the Shah Garg Collection with her husband and tech entrepreneur Gaurav Garg, solidifying a vision for the collection’s emphasis on women artists in 2014. Today, they are focused on amplifying the voices of women artists and artists of color through the Shah Garg Foundation.

Jori Finkel, Arts Journalist, The New York Times and The Art Newspaper

A 2023 Rabkin Prize winner, Jori Finkel writes about art for The New York Times and The Art Newspaper from Los Angeles. Before that, she was a senior editor of Art+Auction magazine in New York. In 2018 she developed for PBS the Emmynominated documentary Artist and Mother. Her 2019 book It Speaks to Me: Art that Inspires Artists (Prestel) was called “an argument for why art museums matter” by New York magazine. She lectures regularly at museums and art fairs and also appears on broadcasts and podcasts as part of her larger project of making contemporary art more accessible.

Our Conference Venues

Thursday, May 2

de Young museum, Koret Theater

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118

Conference attendees receive complimentary access to all de Young galleries and special exhibitions on Thursday, May 2.

Visit Socio, our Conference website and app, for information about transportation and lunch options near the de Young museum.

Friday, May 3

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Wattis Theater 147 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Note that attendees must enter through the Minna Street entrance— the theater is not accessible through the main entrance of the museum.

Attendees with a museum ID or business card receive complimentary admission to the museum’s galleries for themselves and a guest from May 1 to 6. Visit Socio, our Conference website and app, for information about transportation and lunch options near SFMOMA.

Conference Partner Institution Access

Your Conference badge will give you complimentary access to Conference partner museums across the Bay Area during the Conference. Show your badge at any of the below institutions anytime between May 1 and May 6.

500 Capp Street

African American Museum and Library at Oakland

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University

de Young museum and Legion of Honor— complimentary access

Thursday, May 2–Saturday, May 4

The Contemporary Jewish Museum discounted price of $5

ICA SF

ICA San José

KADIST

Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana

Museum of the African Diaspora discounted price of $5 Museum of Craft and Design

Oakland Museum of Art

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art museum employees that show their museum badge or museum business card will receive complimentary general admission for themselves and one guest.

San José Museum of Art— note the museum will be closed 5/1 and 5/6

Conference Check-In

Please bring a valid photo ID to pick up your name tag and tote bag at the Conference check-in to receive access to Conference sessions and registered events. Your name tag will act as your entry ticket to Conference sessions and events. The AAMC Foundation staff at check-in can also help with any questions you might have, and will have extra face masks and hand sanitizer available.

Check-in is open starting at 10 AM on Thursday, May 2, and Friday, May 3.

Nursing Room

A nursing room is available at our Conference venues for all Conference attendees. Please find an AAMC Foundation staff member and they will assist you in accessing the room.

Health and Safety Information

• San Francisco is no longer requiring proof of vaccination or masking at large indoor gatherings. The Conference is adhering to all of the health and safety protocols as set by San Francisco and California. While the regulations may change again, we are, as of January 10, not requiring proof of vaccination or requiring masks to attend the Conference. Kindly note that this does not preclude any regulations set forth for travel or entering the U.S.—these are only SF and/or CA regulations.

• We are committed to prioritizing the health and safety of all Conference attendees and ensuring that the Conference is a safe and comfortable space for all. Attendees should feel free to be masked and social distance as they are comfortable. All AAMC Foundation staff at the Conference will be fully vaccinated. Hand sanitizer will be provided and will be made available throughout Conference venues, and we ask attendees to sanitize frequently.

• By registering, all in-person attendees agree to adhere to these requirements, and to any updated requirements as mandated by San Francisco, California, the U.S., and/or our Conference venue. Each registrant agrees not to hold AAMC Foundation and the Conference venue liable if they come into contact with someone COVID positive or tests positive for COVID after the Conference and any related events. For any questions about protocols, exemptions, or our health and safety procedures, please email Lucy.Lydon@artcurators.org.

Conference Schedule

Panels, Workshops & Talks

Keynotes & Special Addresses

Breakouts

Special Event

Break

Wednesday, April 17

Pre-Conference

Webinar Panel

This webinar is included in Conference registration. A link to the webinar recording is provided on Socio, the Conference website and app.

12:00–1:00 PM ET

Panel: Collective Claims to European Art

Among European art curators, there is an increasing urge to diversify collections through acquisitions that allow for the presentation of non-white sitters and stories of systematic oppression. This session proposes to discuss and scrutinize other means of engaging with issues of diversity and inclusion in historic collections, moving beyond the aforementioned strategy, which places the burden of representation on a select few works of art. Panelists will address the central question of how to communicate to a broad public a sense of collective claims to European art. The conversation will consider how canonical European art that sheds light on complicated historical situations can also inspire genuine appreciation and transcendent experiences. This panel is centered on new installations, temporary exhibitions, and public talks that encourage museum visitors of all backgrounds to feel entitled to European art—to critique it, enjoy it, and return to it empowered by what they have learned.

ORGANIZER & CO-MODERATOR

Isabella Lores-Chavez , Associate Curator, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

CO-MODERATOR

Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón, Curator, Museo de Arte de Ponce

PANELISTS

Marlise Brown, Assistant Curator of European and American Art, Allen Memorial Art Museum

Heather Hughes , Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cindy Kang, Curator, The Barnes Foundation

Wednesday, May 1

9:30–11:30 AM PT

Professional Alliance for Curators of Color Workshop

By invitation only. Open only to current fellows in the program.

9:30–11:00 AM PT

Board of Trustees Meeting

By invitation only.

12:30–2:30 PM PT

Fellowship Alumni Luncheon

By invitation only.

3:00–6:15 PM PT

Propel Program Workshop

By invitation only. Open only to current fellows in the program.

6:00–8:00 PM PT

Gallery Wendi Norris and Jessica Silverman Open Houses

Advance registration required. In-person only event.

Thursday, May 2

8:30–9:30 AM PT

Tours of Bay Area Now 9 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Pre-registration required on Socio, the Conference website and app.

10:00 AM–6:00 PM PT Conference Sessions

de Young museum, Koret Theater, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118

Carry-on luggage may be stored at coat-check; items larger than a carry-on are not permitted.

10:00 AM–10:30 AM PT

Check-In and Name Badge Pick Up

10:30–10:40 AM PT

Welcome Remarks and Introduction to Thomas P. Campbell by Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

10:40–10:50 AM PT

Welcome to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco by Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

10:50–10:55 AM PT

Welcome and Land Acknowledgement by Christina Hellmich, Curator in Charge, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Benefit Committee, AAMC Foundation

10:55–11:00 AM PT

Welcoming Words

by Gregg Castro, t’rowt’raahl Salinan/rumsien-ramaytush Ohlone, Culture Director, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone

10:50–11:00 AM PT

Introduction to Keynote

by Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

11:00 AM–12:00 PM PT

Keynote

by Ginger Shulick Porcella , Independent Curator & Consultant

12:05 PM PT

Introduction to African Futures and Museums

by Wolfram Koeppe, Marina Kellen French Senior Curator, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

12:05–1:05 PM PT

Panel: African Futures and Museums

What if Africa’s artists, past and present, hold the key to overcoming many contemporary challenges of changing museum audiences and visitor expectations? What if collections of African art can teach how to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion at the heart of museum education? What if a constellation of museum voices could find space and freedom to pursue a transformative agenda? What if Africa’s art and culture was truly understood as a laboratory for African futures in America? Speakers are invited to engage in a meaningful conversation about African futures and how we engage with artists, our collections, reach wider audiences, and can add value to larger transformations taking place within our institutions and different social contexts.

ORGANIZER & MODERATOR

Natasha Becker, Curator, Arts of Africa, de Young museum, San Francisco

PANELISTS

Abram Jackson, Director of Interpretation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | de Young and Legion of Honor

John P. Lukavic , Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Native Arts, Denver Art Museum

Karuna Srikureja , Interpretive Specialist for Asian, Africa and Oceania, Denver Art Museum

1:05–3:00 PM PT

Break

Lunch not provided

3:00–3:05 PM PT

Introduction to Dialogue on Sustaining the Visible

by Tuliza Fleming, Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts, National Museum of African American History and Culture; Vice President, Inclusion & Outreach, AAMC Foundation

3:05–4:05 PM PT

Panel: Dialogue on Sustaining the Visible

This panel of curators, artists, and scholars will discuss major exhibitions, publications, works, and projects they have developed or been involved in under the guise of giving visibility to historically excluded artists from the Americas and address what they see as the next steps necessary for these initiatives. As those involved in these pursuits, questions regarding how projects can evolve, what can be done to counter the culture of exclusion, and how the next generation of cultural thinkers can steward future endeavors will be touched upon to consider next steps in moving through creating visibility and into establishing new histories.

ORGANIZER & MODERATOR

Erin Dziedzic , Curator, Independent

PANELISTS

David Castillo, Founder & Director, David Castillo Gallery

Valéria Piccoli, Ken and Linda Cutler Chair of the Arts of the Americas, Department and Curator of Latin American Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art Anna Stothart , Co-Founder, Davila-Villa & Stothart

4:05–4:10 PM PT

Introduction to Curators and AI

by Mary-Kate O’Hare, Global Co-Head and Senior Art Advisor, Citi Private Bank, Art Advisory & Finance; Vice President, Finance & Audit, AAMC Foundation

4:10–5:10 PM PT

Special Session: Curators and AI

With three quick-fire presentations on the relationship, or potential relationship, between curators and artificial intelligence, we will delve into the transformative nature of new tools and views with AI and its possible benefits or pitfalls within curatorial practices. Join the conversation with a moderated Q&A and gain insights into the evolving dynamics of curating in art organizations in the digital age.

SPEAKERS

Andrew Gass, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP

Nik Honeysett , Chief Executive Officer, Balboa Park Online Collaborative Claudia Schmuckli, Curator-in-Charge of Contemporary Art and Programming, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | de Young Legion of Honor

5:10–5:15 PM PT

Introduction to Towards a New Normal? Navigating the Changes in Cultural Audiences

by Juliet Sorce, Executive Vice President, Resnicow and Associates; Vice President, Advocacy, AAMC Foundation

5:15–6:00 PM PT

Special Session: Towards a New Normal? Navigating the Changes in Cultural Audiences

Drawing from a range of research, economic and behavioral studies, as well as highlights from LaPlaca Cohen’s audience survey, Culture Track, Arthur Cohen will present an overview of the significant and often disruptive changes affecting the needs, concerns, and desires of today’s cultural audiences. From shifts in fundamental definitions of organizational success and leadership skills to changing generational values, emotional and attitudinal behaviors and priorities, Towards a New Normal is designed to help navigate a rapidly changing audience landscape to ensure impact and relevance.

SPEAKER

Arthur Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder, LaPlaca Cohen

6:00–6:05 PM PT

Concluding Remarks

by Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

6:05–6:30 PM PT

Viewing of Irving Penn

de Young museum, Herbst Exhibition Galleries, Lower Level, Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118

Open to all Conference registrants.

6:30–8:30 PM PT

Welcome Party

de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118

In-person only event.

Free with Conference registration. Includes access to Irving Penn and concourse level contemporary galleries.

REMARKS

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

Friday, May 3

8:30–9:30 AM PT

Tours of Bay Area Now 9 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Pre-registration required on Socio, the Conference website and app. There is no luggage or large bag storage available.

10:30 AM–5:15 PM PT Conference Sessions

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wattis Theater, 147 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

10:30–10:45 AM PT

Check-In and Name Badge Pick Up

10:45–10:50 AM PT

Welcome and Introduction to Christopher Bedford

by Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

10:50–11:00 AM PT

Welcome to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Introduction to Keynote

by Christopher Bedford, Helen and Charles Schwab Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

11:00 AM–12:00 PM PT Keynote by Komal Shah

12:00–12:05 PM PT

Introduction to Accountability and Legitimacy: Forging a Path

by José Carlos Diaz , Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum; Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

12:05–1:05 PM PT

Panel: Accountability and Legitimacy: Forging a Path

Exhibiting and collecting art organizations have operated with authority assigning tribal identities for Native American artists held in collections and presented in exhibitions, complicated by political realities endured by tribal communities. New guidelines are available for museums that supports tribal sovereignty, forging a path forward for accountability and legitimacy, eliminating a future of “PretIndians.” Please see the document shared on the Socio platform for the Conference to learn more about the guidelines.

ORGANIZER & MODERATOR

heather ahtone, Director, Curatorial Affairs, First Americans Museum

PANELISTS

Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art, Portland Art Museum

Amy Lonetree, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz

1:05–1:10 PM PT

Introduction to Collaboration from an Indigenous Perspective by Christina Hellmich, Curator in Charge, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Benefit Committee, AAMC Foundation

1:10–1:35 PM PT

Special Session: Collaboration from an Indigenous Perspective

As the American Alliance of Museums was developing Standards for Museums with Native American Collections and their Guidelines for Collaboration and Building True, Lasting Collaborations with Source Communities, the de Young museum, at the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, was working on the Native American Art from the Thomas W. Weisel Family Collection catalog and installation. In this project, the museum, its curators, and leadership collaborated with tribal community members to develop a way forward for the representation, honoring, and repatriation of culturally sensitive works, and importantly, created an opportunity for an open-ended, two-year-long conversation between the museums and Native communities. Our speaker joins us today to speak about the process and outcomes, as well as present guidelines that are critical to honoring and respecting the communities engaged.

SPEAKER

Brian D. Vallo

1:35–3:00 PM PT

Break

Lunch not provided.

3:00–3:05 PM PT

Introduction to Unmasking Classism: Exploring Socioeconomic Disparities in Museums

by Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

3:05–4:05 PM PT

Panel: Unmasking Classism: Exploring Socioeconomic Disparities in Museums

Classism is inextricably tied to structural inequities in museums. It manifests in approaches to audience engagement, staffing, and workplace culture, and collecting, among other areas. As museums work to represent a broader range of lived experiences, and to shed the structures that support systemic oppression, classism, and economic inequity need to be centered. In 2022, AAMC addressed pay equity and unionization in a session titled Changing the Day. In this session, we seek to continue and expand that conversation by engaging participants with examples from their professional experiences and from panelists with approaches and solutions.

MODERATOR & CO-ORGANIZER

Ben Garcia , Executive Director, American LGBTQ+ Museum

CO-ORGANIZER

Suhaly Bautista-Carolina , Director of Public Programs & Partnerships, American LGBTQ+ Museum

PANELISTS

Lori Fogarty, Director and CEO, Oakland Museum of California

Miki Garcia , Director + Professor of Practice, Arizona State University

Art Museum

Seema Rao, Principal, Brilliant Idea Studio

4:05–4:10 PM PT

Introduction to Qualified to Curate

by Lauren Haynes, Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island; Vice President, Fundraising, AAMC Foundation

4:10–5:10 PM PT

Panel: Qualified to Curate

This panel will explore the multifaceted aspects of curatorial qualifications, addressing issues of authority, experience, and the colonial gaze within the context of museum and gallery spaces. The panelists, hailing from diverse backgrounds and expertise, will engage in a critical discussion on hiring practices, hollow DEI claims, gender biases, lived experiences, and the right to curate our cultural institutions. Through their insights, the panel aims to inspire actionable change and foster a more inclusive curatorial landscape.

ORGANIZER & MODERATOR

Miranda Kyle, Curator of Indigenous Art of the Americas, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

PANELISTS

Lauren Tate Baeza , Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art, High Museum of Art

Susanne Roewer, Independent Sculptor & Curator

TK Smith, Independent Curator & Cultural Historian

5:10–5:15 PM PT

Concluding Remarks

by Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

6:30–8:30 PM PT Members’ Party

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Free with Conference registration. Includes access to second floor galleries.

REMARKS

by Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

Saturday, May 4

Weekend Tours

Additional registration fee to attend. All tours include transportation and a boxed lunch.

9:00 AM–3:00 PM*

Tour One: Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco

Oakland Museum of California

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

African American Museum and Library at Oakland

The Contemporary Jewish Museum

8:30 AM–4:00 PM*

Tour Two: San José

San José Museum of Art

Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana

ICA San José

Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University

10:00 AM–5:30 PM*

Tour Three: San Francisco

Museum of the African Diaspora

Asian Art Museum San Francisco

KADIST

Museum of Craft and Design de Young museum

* Please note ending times are estimated and can change due to delays or extended visits. Buses will drop off and pick up guests at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown Soma. Luggage should be left at your hotel, as valuables cannot not be left on the bus.

Panelist & Presenter Bios

heather ahtone, Director, Curatorial Affairs, First Americans Museum

Dr. heather ahtone (Choctaw/Chickasaw Nation) is Director of Curatorial Affairs at First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, OK. Her work examines the intersection between Indigenous cultural knowledge and contemporary art. Working in the Native arts community since 1993, she has curated numerous exhibits, publishes regularly, and continues to seek opportunities to broaden discourse on global contemporary Indigenous arts. In addition to serving the Native arts community, she is on the editorial board for American Art Journal, and is on multiple boards, including the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center, Association of Art Museum Curators, and the Native American Art Studies Association.

Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art, Portland Art Museum

Ash-Milby is a curator, writer, and art warrior who has been advocating for Native American art for over 25 years. She is a commissioner of Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me, U.S. Pavilion, 60th International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy. Recent exhibitions include Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe. She was previously an Associate Curator at the National Museum of the American Indian and Curator/Co-Director of the American Indian Community House Gallery in New York City. A member of the Navajo Nation, she earned her master of arts from the University of New Mexico.

Lauren Tate Baeza , Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art, High Museum of Art

Lauren Tate Baeza is a scholar of African art and political history. Academically trained in cultural geography, she is particularly interested in materiality and the spatial distribution of cultural phenomena. As a curator, she specializes in Nigerian art, art of the twentieth century, and works on paper. She currently serves as the Curator of African Art at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, overseeing a collection rich in West and Central African fine art and material culture.

Suhaly Bautista-Carolina , Director of Public Programs and Partnerships, American LGBTQ+ Museum

Suhaly Bautista-Carolina (she/they/we/us) is an interdisciplinary practitioner and cultural worker guided by a commitment to deep and authentic relationship-building, sincere care for people, and respect for the natural world.

Natasha Becker, Curator, Arts of Africa, de Young museum

As an African living in the diaspora, my personal vision is to serve my community by using my creativity to curate meaningful connections to the art of Africa. I am an ardent advocate for artists as distinctive and relevant sources of public understanding in today’s world, throughout history, and in the future. At the de Young, I steward the growth of the arts of Africa and connect diverse communities with Africa’s artistic contributions through the collection, exhibitions, collaborations, and public activities. Our shared vision is to stimulate conversations and center explorations of art and history through inclusive and equitable perspectives.

Christopher Bedford, Helen and Charles Schwab Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Christopher Bedford was appointed the Helen and Charles Schwab Director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) in 2022. Bedford is recognized as an innovative and dynamic leader, with a career focused on increasing community engagement and creating programs of national and international impact. Prior to joining SFMOMA, he served as the Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director of The Baltimore Museum of Art (2016–2022); Commissioner for the U.S. Pavilion for the 2017 Venice Biennale; Director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University (2012–2016); the Chief Curator and Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University (2008–2012); Assistant Curator and Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Contemporary Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2006–2008); and Consulting Curator in the Department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts for the J. Paul Getty Museum (2006–2008).

Marlise Brown, Assistant Curator of European and American Art, Allen Memorial Art Museum

Dr. Marlise Brown (she/her) is the Assistant Curator of European and American Art Before 1900 at the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Her research focuses on the role of decorative arts in negotiating status, race, labor, and global commerce in eighteenth-century Europe. Grants from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Trust, Fulbright Commission, and the Center for Curatorial Leadership/Mellon Foundation have supported her research and professional development.

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Serving for over a decade as Director and CEO of two major U.S. art museums—the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 2009–2017, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco since 2018—Thomas P. Campbell has dedicated his life to the preservation, study, and promotion of art as a gateway to human understanding. Since joining the Fine Arts Museums in 2018, he has worked together with staff to strengthen the institution’s ties to local communities through an ongoing Free Saturdays program, through key acquisitions and partnerships, and through an open invitational exhibition that celebrates creativity in the Bay Area. As part of the institution’s strategic plan, Campbell has centered Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Access as core values. A distinguished art historian, he was educated at Oxford and the Courtauld Institute, and joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s curatorial ranks in 1995. Following his appointment as Director, Campbell led a revitalization and modernization program embodied in award-winning exhibitions and publications, major capital projects, and historic donations of works of art. During his tenure, attendance grew from 4.5 to 7 million visitors a year.

David Castillo, Founder & Director, David Castillo Gallery

David Castillo holds degrees in History and Art History from Yale University and has overseen major public art commissions. Among his work in museums is the Yale University Art Gallery’s American Decorative Arts department. He has lectured widely on various topics in art and has placed the work of his gallery artists in museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Reina Sofia Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, and many others. The gallery has produced more than 150 fine art exhibitions to date.

Gregg Castro, t’rowt’raahl Salinan/rumsen & ramaytush Ohlone, Culture Director, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone

Gregg Castro has worked to preserve his Ohlone and Salinan heritage for over three decades. He is the Society for California Archaeology’s Native American Programs Committee Chairperson. Gregg is a Co-Facilitator for the annual California Indian Conference, a 30+ year annual gathering about California Indigenous culture. He is a Co-Founder/Advisor to the California Indian History Curriculum Coalition, based at California State University, Sacramento, promoting accurate school curriculum. He is now Culture Director of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, advising within their San Francisco Peninsula homelands. Gregg is a writer-activist within the California Indigenous community.

Arthur Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder, LaPlaca Cohen

Arthur Cohen is the CEO and Co-Founder of LaPlaca Cohen. In over three decades leading LaPlaca Cohen, Arthur has served as consultant and advisor to a wide range of cultural and creative organizations, working with leadership teams, board members, foundations, universities, sponsors, collectors, designers, and architects. His current practice focuses on executive coaching for cultural leaders as well as strategic visioning for organizations planning their future. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School, and the London School of Economics.

José Carlos Diaz , Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum; Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

José Carlos Diaz is the Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art at the Seattle Art Museum. Diaz has held positions at The Andy Warhol Museum, The Bass Miami Beach, Tate Liverpool, and the Liverpool Biennial. He received a BA in Art History from San Francisco State University and an MA in cultural history from the University of Liverpool. In 2018 Diaz was a Fellow at the Center for Curatorial Leadership.

Erin Dziedzic, Curator, Independent

Erin Dziedzic is a New York–based curator and writer focusing on amplifying a wide range of contemporary artist’s legacies through exhibitions, special projects, commissions, archiving, and scholarship. As the Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, she organized the traveling exhibition and catalog Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today, featuring twenty-one women artists of color working in abstraction, and the major traveling retrospective and catalog Virginia Jaramillo: Principle of Equivalence. She was previously Curator at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Tuliza Fleming, Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts, National Museum of African American History and Culture; Vice President, Inclusion & Outreach, AAMC Foundation

Tuliza Fleming is the Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. During her tenure, she played a critical role in building the Museum’s art collection, and served as lead curator of Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience. (2021), as well as for Visual Art and the American Experience (2016). She also curated Clementine Hunter: Life on Melrose Plantation (2018), and co-curated Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment (2010). Prior to her current position, Dr. Fleming was the Associate Curator of American Art at the Dayton Art Institute, where she organized exhibitions such as The Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Monet and the Age of American Impressionism. Fleming received her MA and PhD in Art History from the University of Maryland. Her publications include The Museum Baby Grows Up: Being a Curator of Color in a Monochromatic Art Museum World; Visual Art and the American Experience: Creating an Art Gallery in a History and Culture Museum; The Convergence of Aesthetics, Politics, and Culture: Jeff Donaldson’s Wives of Shango; and Breaking Racial Barriers: African American Portraits in the Harmon Foundation Collection.

Lori Fogarty, Director and CEO, Oakland Museum of California

My passion is for museums to make a real, positive difference in the life of their communities. At the Oakland Museum of California, we’ve articulated the difference that we’re trying to make as fostering social cohesion—or building trust, understanding, and connection among people—with our internal communities as well as our public. Since 2006, I’ve championed the Museum’s efforts around community engagement and social impact. Prior to my current position, I was Executive Director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and was Senior Deputy Director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Ben Garcia , Executive Director, American LGBTQ+ Museum

Ben Garcia (he/him) has worked for twenty years to help museums become places of welcome and belonging for all people. He started as a gallery guide and educator, moved on to exhibition development, and then served in middleand upper-management administrative roles before joining the American LGBTQ+ Museum as Executive Director. He has presented and published regularly on creating structural equity in museums through transparency, accountability, fair labor practices, and by adding missing voices and perspectives. Ben graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Boston with a BA in Art, and from Bank Street College of Education with an MSEd in Museum Leadership.

Miki Garcia , Director + Professor of Practice, Arizona State University Art Museum (ASU)

Born in Brownsville, TX, Garcia is passionate about making art museums more inclusive. Prior to ASU, she held positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, the Public Art Fund, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, and the San Antonio Museum of Art. She sits on the Board of the Association of Art Museum Directors, Vassar College Loeb Museum Leadership Council, and the Exhibition Committee for the American Federation for the Arts. Garcia holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Andrew Gass, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP

Andy Gass has been writing and speaking on technological innovation and intellectual property issues for more than 20 years. He is currently a litigator at the law firm Latham & Watkins, where he represents technology companies in disputes over how the law deals with novel digital tools. And he teaches a variety of courses—currently one titled “Copyright, Competition & Technology”—at the UC Berkeley Law School, which boasts the top-ranked IP law program in the country. Andy graduated from Yale College and Berkeley Law and served as a law clerk to the late Stephen Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He currently sits on the Board of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and lives in Healdsburg, CA.

Lauren Haynes, Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island; Vice President, Fundraising, AAMC Foundation

Lauren Haynes is Head Curator, Governors Island Arts, and Vice President for Arts and Culture at the Trust for Governors Island in New York City. Haynes is a specialist in contemporary art by artists of African descent and has spent her almost two-decade career at art institutions across the U.S., including the Queens Museum; the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; the Momentary; and the Studio Museum in Harlem. She has written and lectured extensively on contemporary art and contemporary artists at all stages of their careers. Haynes serves on the Visiting Committee for the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. Haynes was a 2018 Center for Curatorial Leadership fellow and a recipient of a 2020 ArtTable New Leadership Award. In 2023, President Joe Biden appointed Haynes to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, on which she currently serves.

Christina Hellmich, Curator in Charge, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Benefit Committee, AAMC Foundation

Christina Hellmich, PhD, has served as Curator in Charge of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas since 2011, spearheading a broad range of exhibition, publication, and permanent collection projects centered on international and community-based partnerships. Her most recent exhibitions include Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range (2023), Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo (2021–2022), and Lisa Reihana in Pursuit of Venus [Infected] (2019–2020). She has co-edited five major museum publications including Royal Hawaiian Featherwork: Nā Hulu Ali‘i, winner of the Textile Society of America’s 2015 R. L. Shep Award and the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association’s Ka Palapala Po‘okela Award for Illustration/Photography, and New Guinea Highlands: Art in the Jolika Collection (2017), winner of honorable mention in the American Association of Museums’ Publication Design Competition.

Nik Honeysett , Chief Executive Officer, Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC)

Nik has been passionate about technology in the arts, science, and culture his entire career. As CEO of BPOC, a non-profit that provides strategic and digital consulting for the cultural sector, he gets to play in this world daily. He was Head of Administration for the Getty Museum, a former Board member of AAM, and the current Board Chair of the Institute for Learning Innovation. He frequently speaks on technical, business, digital, and strategic opportunities and challenges facing the cultural sector. His hobbies include writing summary paragraphs about his career and referring to himself in the third person.

Heather Hughes, Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Heather Hughes is the Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A specialist in early modern Northern European prints, Hughes previously served as the Kemper Assistant Curator of Academic Affairs and Exhibitions at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum and has held curatorial positions at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Her scholarship focuses on costume prints, artistic exchange, representations of cultural differences, and printmaking’s influence on the applied arts.

Abram Jackson, Director of Interpretation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | de Young and Legion of Honor

Abram Jackson joined the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco as the Museums' inaugural director of interpretation in June 2022. Jackson utilizes ethnic studies theories and DEIA practices in partnership with staff to incorporate more inclusive narratives into didactics. One of Jackson’s contributions to this effort is the development of the interpretation partners program, which incorporates local voices into the interpretive framing for special exhibitions whose themes are closely connected to lived experiences of local and global communities. Jackson holds a Master of Arts in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University and a Master of Teaching in Social Studies from the University of Southern California. Jackson has fifteen years of administrative and teaching experience at the high school and collegiate level and has taught at education programs for incarcerated people in California.

Michelle Jacques, Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees

In February 2021, Michelle Jacques moved to Treaty 6 Territory and the Traditional Homeland of the Métis to take on the role of Head of Exhibitions and Collections/Chief Curator at Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Prior to moving to the Canadian prairies, she was the Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in British Columbia for eight years; before that, she held curatorial positions in the contemporary and Canadian departments at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. While her long-term commitment is to visual art museums, she has also worked as the Director of Programming at the Centre for Art Tapes, an artist-run centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and taught writing, art history, and curatorial studies at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, the University of Toronto Mississauga, and Ontario College of Art & Design University. She holds an MA from York University in Toronto, Ontario, and a BA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Cindy Kang, Curator, The Barnes Foundation

Dr. Kang’s research focuses on the relationship between painting and decorative arts in nineteenth- and twentieth-century France. At the Barnes, she curated or co-curated Marie Laurencin: Sapphic Paris (2023–2024), Marie Cuttoli: The Modern Thread from Miró to Man Ray (2020), and was the venue curator for Berthe Morisot: Woman Impressionist (2018–2019). A former fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Research Institute, she received her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Wolfram Koeppe, Marina Kellen French Senior Curator, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Board of Trustees, AAMC Foundation

Wolfram Koeppe joined The Met in 1992 after working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He lectures and teaches, is involved in The Met’s media programs, and is known for his extensive development efforts. Among his exhibitions are the award-winning Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture by the Roentgens (2012; AAMC prize for Outstanding Monographic Catalogue). The exhibition catalog became a rare book, and a video clip of the Berlin cabinet went viral on YouTube, reaching almost 15 million hits. He organized Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe (2008; voted “Exhibition of the Year” by Apollo magazine) and Making Marvels: Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe (2019–2020). Many of his acquisitions are included in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (2012). He is currently working on the reinstallations of the Northern Renaissance Gallery and the Central European galleries at The Met.

Miranda Kyle, Curator of Indigenous Art of the Americas, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

Kyle is a scholar on the intersection of Indigenous Land rights, sovereignty, contemporary art, and monuments. She is a sociocultural activist and advocate. She lectures and curates around the importance of preserving and promoting place-based knowledge and culture, public spaces, and humaninformed design. From 2017 to 2024, she served as the Arts & Culture Program Manager and Chief Curator for Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., managing, cultivating, and growing the largest public art exhibition in the American South. Kyle holds an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and an MA from Edinburgh College of Arts.

Amy Lonetree, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz

Amy Lonetree is an enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She received her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and her scholarly research focuses on Indigenous history, visual culture studies, and museum studies. Her publications include Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (2012); a co-edited book with Amanda J. Cobb, The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations (2008); and a co-authored volume, People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879–1942 (2011).

Isabella Lores-Chavez , Associate Curator, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Isabella Lores-Chavez is Associate Curator of European Paintings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where she oversees the collection’s Netherlandish paintings. She completed her PhD at Columbia University in 2022, with a dissertation about plaster casts in seventeenth-century Dutch paintings. In 2013, she curated a small exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled Dutch and French Genre Drawings from the Robert Lehman Collection. Isabella has previously worked at The Getty Center and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Mary-Kate O’Hare, Global Co-Head and Senior Art Advisor, Citi Private Bank, Art Advisory & Finance; Vice President, Finance & Audit, AAMC Foundation

Mary-Kate O’Hare specializes in U.S. and Latin American modern and contemporary art. In 2013, she joined Citi Private Bank’s Art Advisory & Finance as Vice President and Advisor, Modern & Contemporary Art. Prior to joining Citi, Mary-Kate was Curator of American Art at the Newark Museum for thirteen years, where she organized many critically lauded exhibitions, including Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s–50s (2010); At the Movies: Edward Hopper’s The Sheridan Theatre (2007); and co-curated Off the Pedestal: New Women in the Art of Homer, Sargent, and Chase (2006). The International Association of Art Critics honored her work for Constructive Spirit with a second-place award for “Best Thematic Museum Show Nationally.” Mary-Kate earned a PhD in Art History from Rutgers University, writing her dissertation on issues of masculinity in the work of John Singer Sargent. In 2010, she was the recipient of the Clinton Hill/Allen Tran Foundation Curatorial Innovation Grant, and in 2011, she held a fellowship at the Clark Art Institute, where her research focused on an exhibition exploring mid-twentieth century Brazilian art, music, architecture, and design. She has taught art history surveys and advanced seminars at Rutgers University and William Patterson University and is a regular guest speaker at Christie’s Education.

Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Appointed as Executive Director of the AAMC & AAMC Foundation in 2014, Pineiro has spearheaded a more than sixfold funding increase and established a footprint in over 40 countries. Her career spans over three decades, encompassing leadership roles such as External Affairs Consultant, Director at AAF U.S., Associate Development Director at the Museum of Arts and Design, and Account Manager at Christie’s, along with positions in galleries in NYC and LA. She is Vice Chair of the Council of Affiliates, AAM; served as a Board member at ArtTable, ArtBridge Projects, and National Art Education Association (NYAEA); a mentor in Diversity in Arts Leadership; a juror for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, NYAEA, and Brooklyn Arts Council; a fellow in the Cultural & Creative Industries and Local Development at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and has had numerous speaking engagements. Pineiro, a first-generation American, holds an MA in Art History, a Certificate in Curatorial Studies, and a BA in Art History and Journalism/Mass Media, all from Rutgers University.

Ginger Shulick Porcella

,

Independent Curator & Consultant

Ginger Shulick Porcella helps organizations and communities transform and heal, using the lens of contemporary art to spur critical dialogue around difficult issues. She has held directorships at Creative Growth Art Center (CA), Franconia Sculpture Park (MN), Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson (AZ), and the Institute for Contemporary Art San Diego (CA). In all of her roles, she has helped communities acknowledge their past—however painful—and create a road map to collectively move forward through radical listening, calculated risk-taking, and cultivating “unexpected audiences.” Porcella is Founder/ Co-Curator of the 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial and has curated critically acclaimed museum exhibitions such as Amir H. Fallah: Scatter My Ashes on Foreign Lands; Blessed Be: Mysticism, Spirituality, and the Occult in Contemporary Art ; and Dazzled: OMD, Memphis Design, and Beyond. Her exhibitions have been positively reviewed in Frieze, The New York Times, and Hyperallergic, and in 2015, she was named the “Voice of the Year” by the San Diego press for her visionary leadership in transforming the arts and cultural ecosystem of Southern California and Baja, Mexico. Porcella holds an MA in Socio-cultural Anthropology from Columbia University and a BA in Art History from DePaul University. She lives in Oakland, CA, with her partner, Don Porcella, and her fur-babies, Maya Papaya and Radio McGriddles.

Valéria Piccoli, Ken and Linda Cutler Chair of the Arts of the Americas Department and Curator of Latin American Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA)

Born and raised in Brazil, Valéria Piccoli joined MIA in the fall of 2022, coming from the Pinacoteca de São Paulo. Although her academic work focused on the iconography of European traveler artists working in Latin America, her curatorial practice expanded to cover exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. She collaborated in different international research and exhibition projects, among them Terra Brasilis, part of the Europalia Brésil festival held in Brussels in 2011, and Picturing the Americas: Landscape Painting from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic, a collaborative project developed with the Art Gallery of Toronto and the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago (2015–2016). The latter exhibition received an award from the AAMC.

Seema Rao

Seema Rao spent twenty-plus years working inside museums. For the last two years, she’s moved into consulting. She also hosts a popular Tik Tok account with 200,000 followers and 20 million likes, and where she teaches art history to thousands daily.

Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón, Curator, Museo de Arte de Ponce

Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón has a BA from the Universidad de Puerto Rico, an MA from The George Washington University, and an MPhil from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She is currently Curator at Museo de Arte de Ponce, where she oversees a collection that offers a rich panorama of Western art from the late Middle Ages until the early twentieth century and an important collection of Puerto Rican Art from the eighteenth until the twenty-first century.

Susanne Roewer, Independent Sculptor and Curator

My starting material is the fragile knowledge and the skills that we have been gathering since the beginning of society, and the human need to give a material expression to immaterial things: power, transcendence, reason, freedom, or love. Besides my studio and exhibition practice, I Co-Founded the famous G7 Berlin network gallery, Elysium-festival, and worked as Chair of the International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art 2022 Berlin, just three examples of the curatorial projects that show my goal to untie common power structures by connecting different scenes.

Claudia Schmuckli, Curator-in-Charge of Contemporary Art and Programming, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | de Young Legion of Honor

Claudia Schmuckli is the inaugural Curator-in-Charge of Contemporary Art and Programming at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Since joining in the fall of 2016, she has developed a dynamic program of exhibitions, commissions, and acquisitions that dialogue with the institution’s sites, buildings, and collections in view of a self-critical reassessment of the museums’ identities, histories, and trajectories. Major recent exhibitions include the presentation of Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care, Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence, Judy Chicago: A Retrospective, and Uncanny Valley: Being Human in the Age of AI at the de Young museum, and Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are You Listening?, Lynn Hershman Leeson: Vertighost, Sarah Lucas: Good Muse, and Urs Fischer: The Public and the Private at the Legion of Honor.

TK Smith, Independent Curator & Cultural Historian

TK Smith is a curator, writer, and cultural historian who previously served as Assistant Curator, Art of the African Diaspora at the Barnes Foundation. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate in the History of American Civilization program at the University of Delaware. He has written for Art in America, the Brooklyn Rail, and ART PAPERS, where he is a contributing editor. In 2022, he was a recipient of an Andy Warhol Writers Grant. Smith was Monument Lab’s 2022–2023 writer-in-residence. Most recently, Smith completed a curatorial residency at Yinka Shonibare’s G.A.S. Residency in Lagos, Nigeria.

Juliet Sorce, Executive Vice President, Resnicow and Associates; Vice President, Advocacy, AAMC Foundation

Juliet Sorce is the Executive Vice President of Resnicow and Associates (R+A), the leading national communications agency serving the arts. With 20 years of experience spearheading strategic communications campaigns for cultural organizations, Ms. Sorce has provided counsel and hands-on support to a broad range of visual arts institutions, including The Frick Collection, Park Avenue Armory, Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, among many others. As R+A’s Executive Vice President, Ms. Sorce is a key member of the executive leadership team, overseeing company culture, policies, staffing, and growth.

Karuna Srikureja , Interpretive Specialist for Arts of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, Denver Art Museum

As a teenager, Karuna Srikureja discovered not everyone was as interested in her latest historical hyper-fixation as she was. This clearly left a lasting mark, as her career is now dedicated to understanding how to earn and keep museum visitors’ attention. Karuna strives to create museum experiences that center empathy, with the belief that people are willing to engage when they feel their time, energy, and values are respected. Prior to joining the Denver Art Museum in 2019, Karuna received a master’s degree from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, and held positions at the MFA Houston, the High Museum of Art, and the Michael C. Carlos Museum.

Anna Stothart , Co-Founder, Davila-Villa & Stothart

Anna Stothart is the co-founder of Davila-Villa & Stothart, an organization devoted to supporting artists and their families on artistic legacy planning and stewardship, studio management, as well as expanding across the globe the cultural and art historical understanding of underrepresented artists. Stothart was the Curatorial Director of Lehmann Maupin from 2016 to 2020, where she provided curatorial support for the represented artists, organized group exhibitions, and was the museum liaison for the gallery. Previously, Stothart served as the Brown Foundation Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art (2015–2016) and Assistant Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (2009–2015).

Brian D. Vallo

Brian Vallo is a member of the Pueblo of Acoma tribe in New Mexico. He has dedicated his career to promoting Native American arts and culture as well as advocating for the protection of sacred sites and the repatriation of ancestors and items of cultural patrimony held in museums and in private, federal, and state institutions. He recently completed a three-year term as Governor of his tribe. Prior to his appointment as Governor, he served as Director of the Indian Arts Research Center at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, where he led the development and publication of the Guidelines for Collaboration, a guide for how museums can work with source communities to develop relevant and culturally appropriate programming, provide access to collections, address collections stewardship, and improve documentation of collections.

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A Curated Collection of

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Tony Cragg, Versus, 2013; Janine Antoni, Lick and Lather, 1993; Diana Thater, Untitled (Joe and Marc), 2011; Chaz Guest, The Tenth, 2019; Jonathan Lasker Landscape of an Absconded God, 2010.

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Roger Shimomura:

April 26 – June 8, 2024

Cristin Tierney Gallery

219 Bowery, Floor 2

New York, NY 10002

Gestural Language

a group exhibition

April 4 - May 31, 2024

Crown Point Press presents Gestural Language, a Spring exhibition that brings together a group of artists who have pursued 20th century abstract painting using a variety of individualized visual languages.

Characterized by gestural brush strokes or painterly mark making, the works of these artists make a case for the continued relevance of an almost one-hundred-year-old genre as a vital tradition of creation.

Currenly on view at the Crown Point Press gallery, the exhibition includes prints by Pia Fries, Jacqueline Humphries, Janis Provisor, Laurie Reid, Amy Sillman, Pat Steir, Patricia Treib, Mary Weatherford, and Charline von Heyl.

Clockwise from left: Mary Weatherford, Walls of Dis, 2018; Jacqueline Humphries, Untitled (green), 2023; Pat Steir, 4 Rivers, 1992

Photo: Sergiy Barchuk

The Getty Research Journal presents peer-reviewed articles on the visual arts of all cultures, regions, and time periods. Topics relate to Getty collections, initiatives, and broad research interests. The journal welcomes a diversity of perspectives and methodological approaches, and seeks to include work that expands narratives on global culture.

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Art Curators Conference

2024 AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Board of Trustees

A sincere thank-you to our Board for their leadership and dedication.

Executive Committee

Tuliza Fleming

Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts, National Museum of African American History and Culture Vice President, Inclusion & Outreach

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo

Executive Director and CEO, Peabody Essex Museum

Vice President, Governance & Nominating

Lauren Haynes

Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island Vice President, Fundraising

Trustees at Large

heather ahtone

Director of Curatorial Affairs, First Americans Museum

Michelle Jacques Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern President, Board of Trustees

Mary-Kate O’Hare

Global Co-Head and Senior Art Advisor, Citi Private Bank, Art Advisory & Finance

Vice President, Finance & Audit

Juliet Sorce

Executive Vice President, Resnicow and Associates Vice President, Advocacy

Daniel Belasco

Executive Director, Al Held Foundation

Wendy Chang Director, rennie museum

Beth Citron Curator, Asia Society Museum

José Carlos Diaz

Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum

Whitney Donhauser

Deputy Director and Chief Advancement Officer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Trustees At Large (cont.)

Isabella Hutchinson

Director and Founder, Hutchinson Modern & Contemporary

Wolfram Koeppe

Marina Kellen French Senior Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Soyoung Lee

Landon and Lavina Clay Chief Curator, Harvard Art Museums

Emily Lenz

Director and Partner, D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc.

Emeriti Trustees

Christa Clarke

Independent Curator and Senior Advisor, Center for Curatorial Leadership

Past President, Trustee Emerita

Elizabeth W. Easton

Co-Founder and Director, Center for Curatorial Leadership

Past President, Trustee Emerita

Carol S. Eliel

Senior Curator Emerita, Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Past President, Trustee Emerita

Helen C. Evans

Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art Emerita, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Past President, Trustee Emerita

John B. Koegel

Founder and Lawyer, The Koegel Group LLP Counsel

Tanya Odom

Global Consultant/Advisor, and Leadership Coach

Carolyn Royston Independent Consultant

Cheryl Sim

Managing Director and Curator, PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art

Marianne Lamonaca

Director of the Humanities Edge, Florida International University Past President, Trustee Emerita

Emily Ballew Neff

Director, San Antonio Museum of Art

Past President, Trustee Emerita

John Ravenal

Former Executive Director, deCordova

Sculpture Park and Museum

Past President, Trustee Emeritus

George T.M. Shackelford

Deputy Director, Kimbell Art Museum

Past President, Trustee Emeritus

Gary Tinterow

Director, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Past President, Trustee Emeritus

Judith Pineiro Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

2024 AAMC & AAMC Foundation Committees

We are grateful to our committees for their volunteer services to our work.

Benefit Committee

Melissa Buron

Director of Collections and Chief Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum

José Carlos Diaz

Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Lauren Haynes

Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island

Vice President, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Christina Hellmich

Curator in Charge, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Michelle Jacques

Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern President, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Emily Lenz

Director and Partner, D. Wigmore Fine Art

Co-Chair, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Wendi Norris

Owner, Gallery Wendi Norris

Jessica Silverman Owner, Jessica Silverman

Kathryn Wade Director, Jessica Silverman

Ann Yonemura

Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

Former Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Finance & Audit Board Committee

Tuliza Fleming

Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Vice President, Inclusion & Outreach, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive

Director and CEO, Peabody Essex Museum

Vice President, Governance & Nominating, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Lauren Haynes

Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island

Vice President, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Michelle Jacques

Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern President, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Mary-Kate O’Hare

Global Co-Head and Senior Art Advisor, Citi Private Bank, Art Advisory & Finance

Vice President, Finance & Audit, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Juliet Sorce

Senior Vice President, Resnicow and Associates

Vice President, Advocacy, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Fundraising Committee

Andrew Barron

Marketing Consultant

Lauren Haynes

Head Curator and Vice President of Arts and Culture, The Trust for Governors Island Vice President, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Isabella Hutchinson Director and Founder, Hutchinson Modern & Contemporary Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Michelle Jacques Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern President, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Emily Lenz

Director and Partner, D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. Co-Chair, Fundraising, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Alexis Lowry Curatorial Director, Hauser & Wirth

Monique Meloche Owner & President, Monique Meloche Gallery

Mary-Kate O’Hare

Global Co-Head and Senior Art Advisor, Citi Private Bank, Art Advisory & Finance Vice President, Finance & Audit, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Governance & Nominating Committee

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO, Peabody Essex Museum Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Michelle Jacques Director of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern President, Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Marianne Lamonaca Director of the Humanities Edge, Florida International University Past President, Trustee Emerita, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Soyoung Lee

Landon and Lavina Clay Chief Curator, Harvard Art Museums Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Gratitude

We are deeply grateful to our most dedicated supporters, who bolster our work and reach every day through their generosity.

Listings as of January 1, 2024.

Foundations

Al Held Foundation

Art Fund

Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation

Getty Foundation

Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Iris Foundation

Corporate

ADAA

Bard Graduate Center

Carlton Hobbs

Individual Donors

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE

Emily Lenz

Bob Rennie

BENEFACTOR CIRCLE

Graham C. Boettcher

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Mr. and Mrs. Barnett and Shirley Helzberg

Marjorie and Don Lenz

John B. Ravenal

The Leon Levy Foundation

The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation

The National Endowment for the Arts

Terra Foundation for American Art

FRIEND CIRCLE

Deborah Cullen-Morales

Kaywin Feldman

William Gautreaux

Madhuvanti Ghose

Wolfram Koeppe

Joern Lohmann

E. Carmen Ramos

Ann Yonemura

Sustaining Members

Lynne D. Ambrosini

Dita Amory

Christa Clarke

Carol S. Eliel

Catherine Gheysen

Gloria Groom

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Cody Hartley

Christina Hellmich

Isabella Hutchinson

Eik S. Kahng

Norman L. Kleeblatt

Wolfram Koeppe

Marianne Lamonaca

bella ledda

Soyoung Lee

Joan R. Mertens

Annemarie Sawkins

George T.M. Shackelford

Laura Finlay Smith

John Wilson

Ann Yonemura

Annual Fund

Gifts to our annual fund advance the organization’s capacity to ensure we secure our mission’s values and vision’s goals.

Listings January 1, 2023–as of March 15, 2024.

Jessica Adler

Lynne Ambrosini

William Richard Anderson

Dita Armory

Rene Paul Barilleaux

Susan Brotman

Sarah D. Coffin

Amy Cosier

Deborah Cullen-Morales

José Carlos Diaz

Whitney Wilson Donhauser

Steffi Duarte

Medea Ekner

Helen Evans

Linda Ferber

Pauline Willis Forlenza

Gregory Ghent and Scott McCue

Anne C. Goodyear

Jared Goss

Alison de Lima Greene

Shawnya L. Harris

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Cody Hartley

Julia Ann Herzberg

Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Horvitz

Dakota Hoska

Michael Hughes

Norman L. Kleeblatt

Betty Krulik

Marianne Lamonaca

Emily Lenz

Tanya M. Odom

Jennifer Casler Price

E. Carmen Ramos

Tracy R. Rector

Cecile Shellman

Marianna S. Simpson

Gary Tinterow

Isabel Wilcox

Ann Yonemura

Rangsook Yoon

Institutional Members

By being an institutional member, the organizations below are highlighting their commitment to the curatorial profession and their desire to see it flourish.

Current members as of January 1, 2024

Ackland Art Museum

Addison Gallery of American Art

Akron Art Museum

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

The Art Institute of Chicago

August Wilson African American Cultural Center

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Barnes Foundation

Birmingham Museum of Art

Blanton Museum of Art

Boca Raton Museum of Art

Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art

Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Colby College Museum of Art

Corning Museum of Glass

Currier Museum of Art

David Owsley Museum of Art

Denver Art Museum

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery

The Frick Collection

The Frick Pittsburgh

Frist Art Museum

Grounds For Sculpture

Hammer Museum of Art

Harvard Art Museums

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

Honolulu Museum of Art

Hood Museum of Art

Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

J. Paul Getty Museum

Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum

The Jewish Museum

Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University

Kimbell Art Museum

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Meadows Museum

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Institutional Members (cont.)

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Mississippi Museum of Art

MIT List Visual Arts Center

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Modern Art

National Palace Museum

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

New Orleans Museum of Art

North Carolina Museum of Art

Oakland Museum of California

The Palmer Museum of Art

Peabody Essex Museum

PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Phoenix Art Museum

Princeton University Art Museum

Remai Modern

Saint Louis Art Museum

San Antonio Museum of Art

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Sarasota Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum

Sheldon Museum of Art

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute

Toledo Museum of Art

Turchin Center for the Visual Arts

University Art Galleries, Cal Poly Pomona

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Wellin Museum of Art

Whitney Museum of American Art

Wichita Art Museum

Williams College Museum of Art

Yale University Art Gallery

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Association of Art Museum Curators & AAMC Foundation