Amy Smith-Stewart Named Chief Curator of Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

Amy Smith-Stewart has been named as the new chief curator of the Aldrich Modern day Artwork Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, getting the initially girl to helm the non-collecting establishment since its founding in 1964. Smith-Stewart, a curator at the Aldrich due to the fact 2013, has an recognized keep track of history of presenting the operate of emerging and underrecognized artists. She replaces Richard Klein, who declared his departure in January just after primary the museum for more than a few many years.

“For practically 10 decades Amy Smith-Stewart has been a central voice in the Aldrich’s exhibition programming, partnering with artists on displays that have captured the awareness of our viewers and critics alike,” mentioned Aldrich director Cybele Maylone. “Serving as the museum’s main curator is the normal next stage in her management, and I am enthusiastic to operate with her in this new job.”

Smith-Stewart commenced her career at P.S.1 Modern day Art Centre (now MoMA PS1) in Queens, New York, in which she gave artists together with Aleksandra Mir, Adrian Paci, Mika Rottenberg, and Taryn Simon their initially solo museum demonstrates. Just after a short stint as curatorial advisor at New York’s Mary Boone Gallery, exactly where she mounted a variety of team shows showcasing clean expertise, she released her personal nomadic curatorial initiative on the city’s Lower East Aspect. This task, which ran from 2007 to 2009, was partly concurrent with her 2006–08 work as guest curator for the Peter Norton collection. Smith-Stewart additionally curated demonstrates at the Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum, both in Queens, and has served on the school of the MA programs at the University of the Visible Arts and the Sotheby’s Institute of Artwork, equally in New York.

Because arriving at the Aldrich in 2013, she has curated forty-two exhibitions, like debut solo museum demonstrates by Genesis Belanger, Milano Chow, Lucia Hierro, Eva LeWitt, and Jessi Reaves, and surveys of artists including Harmony Hammond, Karla Knight, Suzanne McClelland, Ruth Root, and Jackie Winsor. Smith-Stewart’s most recent exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, tracks the evolution of feminist art tactics in excess of 50 % a century. On check out via January 8, 2023, the display revisits the Aldrich’s landmark 1971 Lucy Lippard–curated exhibition Twenty Six Modern day Women of all ages Artists, presenting the perform of the authentic exhibiting artists alongside that of 20-six feminine-determining and nonbinary rising artists.

Smith-Stewart previously has options for new initiatives at the museum. “It is a huge honor to be the initially lady to lead the Aldrich’s exhibitions division. The Aldrich has a extended history of supporting visionary artists at significant points of their occupations,” she explained. “Next 12 months, we will commence a new artist honoraria initiative and embark on a project to strengthen and update our campus to boost chances for artists and be certain superior accessibility for all communities. The artist is usually at the heart at The Aldrich. Collectively, with a creative and collaborative staff, we will perform to uncover and amplify new and underrecognized voices in the discipline.”

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